ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has refused to inaugurate the ‘digital dashboard’ developed by National Information Technology Board (NITB) officials to ensure transparency in flood relief assistance.
As per the details, the premier during a live briefing on flood relief efforts argued what kind of dashboard has been developed by the NITB.
“It is a joke … It is not a dashboard that is required,” well placed sources quoted the premier as telling the meeting.
According to the sources, the premier expressed dissatisfaction over the dashboard and said a real-time monitoring panel of international standards should be ensure which would help better coordination among institutions and enhance the country’s credibility.
PM also instructed the NITB officials to add more features like the weather alerts to make it a “world-class” platform containing all relevant information.
“We should design a dashboard which the whole nation should be proud of,” PM Shehbaz said.
He exemplified a dashboard on dengue outbreak by the Punjab government during his stint as chief minister, which he said, got international recognition as it had contained all the relevant information like hotspot areas and the provided facilities.
The PM also pointed out the shortcomings in the design and called for further improvements to enable it to meet the nation’s needs and effectively reflect the coordinated efforts being made by the government for relief and rehabilitation of the flood-stricken people.
PM Sharif said the flood relief dashboard must contain all the relevant information about every item where the relief items like quilts and baby food were sent and where they came from.
He said the government would provide all required support for the development of the dashboard which should not be a makeshift arrangement but rather a facility usable even for decades.
