Going hi-tech: Website allows unparalleled insight into legislative affairs

K-P Assembly’s updated site will be fully operational in a few months.

PESHAWAR: Browsing through government websites is usually a testing if not traumatizing experience as one has to wade through a clutter of information only to not find what you are looking for in the end. However, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s newly-launched website with systematically arranged and updated information is a pleasant surprise with interesting info-graphics and details about assembly business.

The new website of the assembly was launched on April 11 and contains a treasure trove of updated information about legislative and non-legislative business of the house, its workings and members.

“We have attempted to bring uniqueness in every aspect,” said the assembly’s additional secretary and director IT Attaullah Khan while talking to The Express Tribune.

Khan said they have made a basic structure and will work on it further for two to three months to make it a ‘masterpiece’. The site will also offer a virtual tour of the assembly.

A personal touch

Khan said the new website allows assembly members to personally update the information on their pages, however, after the changes webmasters will receive a formal approval request. In addition, the site instantly publishes all legislative and non-legislative business of the house.

In an unprecedented move, Khan said the website also provides the public with the opportunity to view assembly sessions through a video stream and provides tickers, news and other updates from the house. Open to suggestions for improvements, Khan said the website provides for an online chat forum where visitors can interact with assembly staff.

The administrator for the website, Shahbaz Farooq, said though the site has become operational, they are still working on improving it and putting all the old data online. He said the complete debates of the house will be uploaded online while visitors can also report bugs which will be immediately addressed.

Farooq said in addition to statistical details of the entire house’s activities, every member’s page will provide a glimpse into his or her legislative and non-legislative activity and will show the bills, questions, adjournment motions, resolutions and privilege motions moved by them.

The site has detailed background information on Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid and past assemblies, among other things. A statistics tab found in a drop down menu in the members’ tag offers insight into the educational and professional background of legislators.

This is the first time the provincial assembly is publishing details of its non-legislative business, including questions, privilege motions, resolutions, calling attention notices, ruling of the chair and adjournment motions. The texts of resolutions passed by the assembly are also available in PDF format while one can also go through the questions asked during debates.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2014.