CHIEF Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that promotion of information technology is the need of the hour and the Punjab government is implementing a comprehensive programme in this regard.
During a meeting with Microsoftís Istanbul representative Jeffrey Avina here on Monday, he said the IT labs had been set up in 4,200 schools for the first time in countryís history with the cooperation of international companies and students were getting awareness of national and international issues. He said rapid progress was impossible without imparting modern education to the new generation, adding that the developed nations had achieved progress with the help information technology.
The chief minister said that all possible steps were being taken for the promotion of the IT in the province and an agreement had also been signed with Microsoft. He said the Punjab government would set up an IT Park and land would be provided to the interested company free of cost. He said Microsoft would also arrange free training of students as well as government officers which would result in capacity-building of the government departments.
Shahbaz said rehabilitation of the flood affectees was being carried out with the help of information technology and Microsoft was providing a software ‘Eagle’ to the the PDMA for the purpose. He praised the services of Jeffery Avina for the promotion of the IT in the province.
Chairman Punjab Information Technology Board Javed Ghani informed about the progress made on the Eagle technology agreement. He said experts of Eagle would arrive in Lahore in a couple of days.
Jeffery Avina informed the CM about the details of the agreement between Microsoft and the Punjab government.
Chairman Punjab Information Technology Board, Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority and officers concerned were also present.

Iqbal’s poetry source of hope, awakening: Shahbaz Sharif on Monday said that Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a great philosopher and poet whose poetry rekindled hope and awakening among the Muslims of the sub-continent.
He said that the best way to pay tributes to the poet of the east was to follow his ideals and teachings and work hard with commitment to make Pakistan a strong and prosperous country.
In a message on 133rd birth anniversary of the poet philosopher, the chief minister said Allama Iqbal promoted self-respect and national pride among the Muslims of the sub-continent and it was because of his teachings that they waged a struggle for a separate homeland under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam and materialized his dream on August 14, 1947.
The CM said that today there was a need to put Iqbalís philosophy into practice to overcome the crises being faced by the country. He said we have to should shun all ethnic, linguistic and sectarian differences to make the country an Islamic welfare state and a modern democracy in accordance with the vision of Iqbal.