Punjab government would provide land to Pakistan Information Technology Board (PITB) for establishing a Software Technology Park (STP) in Rawalpindi, said Muhammad Basharat Raja, Provincial Minister for Local Government, Rural Development, Law and Parliamentary Affairs here on Saturday.
The government has fulfilled its commitment made four years ago for the development and provision of over one million jobs in the province, he said while addressing the Demand Based Information Technology Training seminar held at Gordon College.
The seminar was organised by the PITB to impart Information Technology training to students in the sectors that boost the country's economy and provide jobs to youth. PITB Chairman Rizwan Amin Sheikh, City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas and Principal, Gordon College, Chaudhary Muhammad Saleem also addressed the seminar.
The Minister said that establishment of STP in Rawalpindi would change the socio-economic scenario of the area and creating thousands of jobs besides increasing economic activities. This is an era of Information Technology and only nations having clear vision regarding this sector would attain their development goals, he said.
Talking about the commitment of the government for development, Basharat said that in one year, four cement factories were set up in Punjab, which helped other related industries to flourish. Housing sector has kept upward trend and helped in industrialisation of the province.
He asked the PITB to set up a full-fledged computer lab in Gordon College saying the Punjab Government would provide 20 per cent seed money for this lab. He also announced Rs 2 million for Jubilee Hall renovation.
The minister directed four town nazims, who also remained students of the college, to provide Rs 500,000 grant to the college. He said that being Local Bodies Minister he would help them in case of any procedural problems.
Speaking on the occasion, PITB Chairman Rizwan Amin Sheikh said that Information Technology Industry is growing rapidly and in Punjab it created over 10,000 jobs during the last one year. With the completion of STP, Lahore thousands of more jobs would be created, he said.
He said that under E-Governance project, the PITB has started automation of land record in the province to save people from traditional 'Patwari' culture. We have started the pilot project of land record automation in Kasur and after its success we will move forward, he added.
He said that Zakat and Usher system would also be automated to remove all ambiguities in the system and make sure the distribution of Zakat to the deserving people. The PITB would support software development projects and other IT related sectors by providing 80 per cent of the project funding.
He announced free Information Technology training for students and faculty of Gordon College and said that under Talent Scholarship Programme, PITB will provide full scholarships to students having A-grade in Matriculation and FSc. He said that for graduation complete 4-year fees and Rs3,000 monthly stipend would also be given to students while for post-graduation, full fees of two years and Rs3,000 monthly stipend would be provided. He said that during last one year PITB has provided IT training to more than 20,000 people.
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