Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque here on Wednesday inaugurated ‘Gokina Smart Village Project’.
The pilot project comes under the umbrella of Smart Villages of Pakistan, a nationwide initiative launched by the MoITT in 2021 together with Universal Service Fund (USF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Huawei.
Lauding the efforts of USF, ITU and Huawei, the minister said, “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. The Smart Village Pakistan Projects will be initiated in all provinces very soon.”
Highlighting the Gokina Smart Village Project details, Amin said that three priority areas were identified through the needs assessment study in Gokina, a valley settlement located 21 kilometers from Islamabad.
Initially, one Smart Village will be established in Islamabad, followed by one each in Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Education- Gokina village has a high school for boys and 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.—APP
