GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE.

• Author: Kazmi, S. Kamal Hayder
• Position: Prime Minister Imran Khan launches the Ehsaas District Development Portal, Data4Pakistan

Byline: S.KAMAL HAYDER KAZMI

Prime Minister Imran Khan launching the Ehsaas District Development Portal, Data4Pakistan, said the initiative was part of the government's commitment to reduce poverty in Pakistan, as progress and prosperity were directly connected to uplifting the impoverished. It is my belief that Pakistan where there is an ocean of poor people and few rich cannot make progress, he said, adding the Data4Pakistan portal would assist the government of Pakistan distribute development funds per people's needs.

Imran Khan said the portal would also assist identify the regions that were in most need of funds, while also offering vital figures about issues being faced by the people. Sources recorded that Data4Pakistan would also help in higher-level policymaking also budget allocation, he said, adding that the earmarking of the budget would be on a need and merit basis without any political considerations.

Earlier, addressing the launch ceremony, Special Assistant to the P.M. on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Sania Nishtar said the Data4Pakistan portal was developed in collaboration with the World Bank and will prove a precious resource for federal, provincial and district level policymakers. Sania said Data4Pakistan was the first initiative of its kind in Pakistan, and would offer open and public access to a spatial interactive portal that has poverty estimates for every district in the country, along with over 120 development and policy indicators. Furthermore, the portal presently has 6 rounds of district-level poverty and development data, covering the period between 2004 and 2018. It includes interactive maps that permit the user to visualize and compare districts on poverty and two additional indicators, including but not limited to water and sanitation and housing characteristics.

It is also GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE *Imran Khan launches Data4Pakistan recorded that the interactive portal also permits for detailed information on individual districts, with pop-ups, and users can focus in on subsets of provinces or districts using a simple drop-down list. Custom maps with data chosen by the user can also be downloaded and...