Digital Empowerment – Orientation and Practicum for the Honourable Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) – Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services

Digital Empowerment – Orientation and Practicum for the Honourable Members of the National Assembly (MNAs)

MEMBERS, ORIENTATIONS

The Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), under the vision and initiative of the Honourable Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, organized a Digital Empowerment Orientation and Practicum for the Honourable Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) at its premises in Islamabad. The programme marks an important step towards the digitisation of the National Assembly and the promotion to a paperless parliamentary environment, aimed at enhancing digital competencies for effective parliamentary performance, secure communication, and informed engagement with emerging technologies. The programme is being conducted in two batches, with Batch 1 taking place on 20th May, 2026 and Batch 2 scheduled on 21st May, 2026.

The initiative is designed to equip legislators with practical digital competencies required for modern parliamentary functions, including the effective use of official tablets, secure email handling, and strategic engagement through social media platforms.

The programme began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Following this, Mr. Asim Khan Goraya, Executive Director, PIPS, warmly welcomed the Honourable Members, resource persons, and distinguished participants. He expressed appreciation for their participation, noting that their engagement reflects a strong commitment to strengthening democratic institutions through innovation, learning, and adaptation to evolving governance demands. Mr. Goraya highlighted the central role of digital literacy in modern legislative work, emphasizing that technology supports legislative efficiency, public communication, transparency, and citizen engagement. He also acknowledged the contributions of the resource persons and the PIPS Parliamentary Development Programme (PDP) Wing in organizing the session.

Syed Zain Gillani, Director General (PDP&C), PIPS, provided an overview of the programme, highlighting the importance of leveraging technology to improve legislative work, oversight responsibilities, and constituent engagement. The orientation aims to familiarize MNAs with the use of official tablets for accessing documents, managing communication securely, and utilizing digital tools for parliamentary functions, including social media engagement and understanding the implications of Artificial Intelligence in governance. Mr. Gillani emphasized that the programme is designed to be practical, ensuring that learning is directly applicable to day-to-day parliamentary responsibilities.

The practicum focused on the use of official tablets provided to MNAs. Participants received hands-on orientation from Mr. Muhammad Nazir Khan, Director General (IT), and IT Team PIPS, covering device functionality, navigation of essential applications, connectivity features, and best practices for ensuring data security and device management within parliamentary operations. Another significant segment addressed Digital Communication and Social Media Usage, where participants were guided on secure email practices, including account access protocols, correspondence management, attachment handling, and document organization.

Through this initiative, PIPS continues to advance its mandate of strengthening parliamentary capacity by equipping elected representatives with essential digital tools and knowledge required for responsive, transparent, and technology-enabled governance. The Institute aims to conduct the Digital Empowerment events with the same agenda for the remaining Members of the National Assembly after the Eid-Ul-Azha Holidays.

On the direction of the Chairman Senate/President PIPS Board of Governors, the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), has implemented a comprehensive set of measures aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline, operational efficiency, and responsible utilization of public resources, on the same lines as notified and adopted by the Senate and National Assembly Secretariats.

Under the new measures, the Institute has adopted a four-day working week (Monday to Thursday), while introducing a hybrid working model whereby 50% of staff will perform duties from the office and 50% will work remotely on a rotational basis. Employees working from home will remain fully accessible through digital communication platforms and may be required to report to the office on short notice, ensuring uninterrupted institutional functioning.

Significant steps have also been taken to promote energy conservation. These include a target of achieving up to 70% reduction in energy consumption through minimizing unnecessary use of electricity and ensuring that official meetings, trainings, and events are scheduled during daylight hours. Foreign tours are banned and international meetings are being held virtually.

In the transport section, PIPS has introduced strict measures to curtail expenditure and 70% official vehicles have been grounded as part of this initiative.

As part of broader austerity efforts, 20% reduction has been imposed on the non-ERE budget for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The officers drawing a monthly salary of PKR 300,000 or more, shall surrendered two days salary or 5% to 30% salary on gross as per Federal Government decision.

The Institute has also discontinued all non-essential procurements with immediate effect. Official functions such as dinners and receptions will not be hosted, except in the case of visiting foreign delegations, and even then, strictly in accordance with austerity protocols.

These measures have been implemented with immediate effect and will remain in force until further orders.

Under the guidance of President PIPS Board of Governors, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, PIPS remains fully committed to maintaining its core functions of parliamentary support, capacity building, and research while contributing proactively to national austerity and sustainability goals.

Digital Empowerment – Orientation and Practicum for the Honourable Members of the National Assembly (MNAs)

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