Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday Urged Asian Development Bank (ADB) to establish database management systems for Courts and Police stations.

A delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Pakistan Mission, led by Senior Director Tariq Niazi, called on the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal,said a press release issued here.

The delegation included Zain Fawzi, Senior Project Officer; Asad Aleem, Deputy Country Director; and Sana Masood, Senior Economist. During the meeting, Minister Ahsan Iqbal emphasised the need for technological integration across various networks and urged the ADB to develop a judicial information system for Pakistan’s 2,500 courts.

“The system should provide detailed profiles of all judges, track the status of disposed cases and include timelines for pending cases to ensure transparency and efficiency,” he stated.

The Minister recommended the establishment of a comprehensive police information system to integrate all 1,500 police stations in the country. This system would include details of each station’s jurisdiction and streamline operations.

He underscored the importance of leveraging technology to modernize Pakistan’s administrative and service delivery systems. “Technology should expose discrepancies in a way that eliminates human manipulation,” he said, citing the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) successful implementation of the Iris software as a model for digital automation.

Senior Director ADB Tariq Niazi briefed the Minister on ADB’s portfolio in the South Asian region, including its work in public sector management, governance, and macro-fiscal policy.

He highlighted ADB’s pivotal role in providing technical and financial assistance to Pakistan over the past decade, particularly during crises such as the pandemic, economic downturns, and conflicts.

The ADB delegation also shared updates on five active programs in Pakistan, which include pension reform, domestic resource mobilisation, managing public-private partnerships, State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) transformation, and FBR digitalization initiatives.

Minister Ahsan Iqbal urged the ADB to increase the concessional financing limit for Pakistan, citing the severe economic repercussions of climate change. They minister stressed the need to separate climate financing from regular financing to support vulnerable countries effectively.

The Minister identified export expansion as a critical challenge for Pakistan’s economy and sought ADB’s assistance in creating programs to drive export growth. “A cluster-based approach can be adopted to enhance exports by identifying trade clusters with potential and conducting value chain analyses,” he suggested.

He highlighted the untapped potential of Pakistan’s flower industry as an example. “Pakistan’s flower-producing hub, Pattoki, could export flowers to Europe, as Bangkok does. Unfortunately, we remain confined to commodity production and consumerism,” he lamented.

The ADB delegation expressed willingness to support studies and strategies to enhance Pakistan’s export capacity, aligning with the Minister’s vision for economic diversification and growth.

This meeting underscores the commitment of the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives and the ADB to collaborate on technological, economic, and administrative reforms for sustainable development in Pakistan.

Punjab Information Adviser Azma Bokhari said on Wednesday that whoever was aiming to disrupt peace would be dealt with an iron hand.

She made these remarks during her interaction with media outside the Lahore High Court (LHC).

“Several things are shared on social media without any verification. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is being reorganised for better handling of the cases reported by women victims,” she added.

Referring to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) scheduled protest in Islamabad on Nov 24, she said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had spent Rs81 million on its last protest, claiming that it was demanding another Rs58 million for its planned protest.

She accused the PTI parliamentarians of taking money from official funds and utilizing them in protests.

In a shocking development on Monday, seven policemen were abducted by unidentified armed men from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district.

The incident occurred in the Ahmedzai sub-division and was confirmed by the district’s DPO.

The police said the unknown armed men took control of the Rocha checkpost and kidnapped the personnel.

With regard to the incident, it was added that an operation has been initiated to apprehend the captors after cordoning off the area.

As per the details which has come to light so far, the incident took place after maghrib prayer when a group of armed men took the policemen hostage at a checkpost. After, they were taken to an undisclosed location.