Key Takeaways
- Raheel Siddiqui developed 'Ask Pakistan' to bridge the gap between citizens and government services.
- The platform offers a unified interface for accessing information from 52 government websites.
- Users can ask questions in English, Urdu or Roman Urdu and receive detailed step-by-step answers.
Karachi-based developer Raheel Siddiqui has launched 'Ask Pakistan', a chatbot platform designed to simplify access to government services in Pakistan.
The platform, available at pakistangov.online, aims to address the fragmented nature of government e-services, making it easier for citizens to navigate and access the information they need.
Speaking to Dawn, Siddiqui explained that the motivation behind the platform was to help non-tech-savvy individuals who struggle to find the required information.
‘Ask Pakistan’ provides a unified interface with bilingual labels, greeting users with the message: “Ask anything about a government service. Get a clear answer from official sources, with the next steps.”
The platform currently collates information from 52 government websites, including the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra), and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Users can input their queries in English, Urdu or Roman Urdu, and the chatbot provides detailed step-by-step answers. Common questions such as ‘How do I renew my CNIC?’ are offered as examples.
The platform is designed with privacy in mind, requiring no sign-up or personal information input from users. Siddiqui emphasized that the website only provides publicly available data.
For ease of use, users can also browse by topic, and the website links directly to relevant sections of the government websites.
Since its launch, the platform has gained significant attention, with Siddiqui noting that it received around 500,000 views in a few hours.
The information is available and the government is actually good in providing directions on how to avail public services, but the problem is that there are a lot of services. There is no unified platform which can give you information about all of them.
Raheel Siddiqui, Developer of 'Ask Pakistan'
