ISLAMABAD: ‘Gokina Smart Village’, a pilot project under the “Smart Villages of Pakistan”, has been launched in Gokina village to provide Internet-based education (Tele-Taleem) to boys and girls and to introduce modern health and urban standards in the village located 21 kilometres from Islamabad.
Syed Aminul Haque, Federal Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication, formally inaugurated the project, a joint venture of the IT Ministry, Universal Service Fund (USF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Huawei Pakistan.
Such smart village projects will be initiated in all provinces, said the minister while commending the partners. After Islamabad, smart village projects will be set up one each in Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Project to help overcome key challenges in villages
“It is anticipated that the pilot projects and the Smart Pakistan Village initiative as a whole will help overcome key challenges that people in rural areas face such as limited access to healthcare, education, financial, and digital services, unemployment and lack of income-creation opportunities, gender gaps and a rural-urban divide exacerbated by uneven technology proliferation.”
Gokina village has a high school for boys and one for girls. However, it was found that there were no science teachers, particularly in girls’ school, which created hurdles for students in getting benefits both, in terms of learning as well as competing for the future professional opportunities. The project has identified an e-education provider (Tele-Taleem) to bridge this gap.
The minister said there was a medical centre in the village with limited to no medical services available. The health worker would be responsible to provide very basic health advice and services to the community members.
Gokina is a valley settlement in Margalla Hills. The hamlet with around 1,500-2,000 population, is known for its scenic beauty, lush green meadows and pine trees.
E-health provider
It was also highlighted that the biggest challenge in getting access to health services was that it was time consuming, as it involved commuting to Islamabad. The project has identified an e-health provider (Sehat Kahani) to bridge this gap.
There is a clear need and demand for digital skills enhancement and entrepreneurship, whereby community members can utilise a hybrid model of digital as well as non-digital tools to become entrepreneurs in the identified areas like fashion, stitching, handicrafts and other home businesses for women.
Besides, modern agricultural skills, chef skills for local youth, marketing of products and access to finance and market for existing and upcoming businessmen in the communities would also be introduced.
Speaking on the occasion, National Database And Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Tariq Malik said: “After the success of Mobile NADRA vehicle, we are excited to launch the NADRA Motorcycle Services – starting from Gokina Smart Village, and shall soon be initiated all over Pakistan – where people will be able to avail all NADRA facilities close to their homes, such as family registration certificate, child registration certificate, and more.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of USF said: “Gokina Smart Village project is an exemplary model of how we envision the future of digital inclusivity in Pakistan. Sustainable digital growth is key to accelerating rural development and supporting the socioeconomic stability of individuals.
Atsuko Okuda, Regional Director of ITU said the Smart Village Pakistan initiative promoted a whole-of-government approach to bring the benefits of digital transformation in sectors such as health, education and agriculture to the rural and remote communities, leaving no one behind and offline.
Ahmed Bilal Masud, Deputy CEO of Huawei Technologies Pakistan, said Huawei continued to progress in Pakistan as a market leader with USF projects in the rural areas through our operators.
The challenges that come with digitalization are overwhelming but the opportunity is even larger in Pakistan. Digitalization is essential for competitiveness, representing an incentive to increase the ability to play a more significant role in the international community, he said.
