Punjab on Tuesday launched Pakistan’s first digital civil registration application, marking a major milestone in the provincial government’s “Digital Punjab” initiative led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif.
The Civil Registration Management System (CRMS) app—developed by the Punjab Local Government Department in collaboration with NADRA—was inaugurated by Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique at a ceremony attended by senior officials, including Secretary Local Government Shakeel Ahmed Mian, NADRA COO Syed Abdul Salam, Special Secretary Arshad Baig, DG NADRA Punjab Fiza Shahid and DG Local Government Ahmed Kamal Maan.
Through the new system, citizens will be able to register births, deaths, marriages and divorces online. Officials said the service is linked with NADRA’s database, enabling automatic updates and, for the first time, the automatic allotment of a Form-B number upon e-registration.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Rafique said the CRMS app represented “an important step” toward realising the chief minister’s digital governance vision. “Citizens can now complete registrations from home, and the data will be updated automatically through NADRA,” he said. The minister added that certificates for births, deaths, marriages and divorces could also be obtained through the app, which he described as comparable to digital systems in developed countries.
He said the platform would ensure accurate and transparent data collection and would be expanded across Punjab down to the union council level. “The 21st century is the century of IT, and every sector is becoming digital. Serving citizens is our mission,” he remarked.
Mr Rafique also announced plans to introduce a mobile registration service for remote areas, on the pattern of NADRA’s outreach model. “Instead of waiting for citizens, the government will go to them. Punjab has set itself as a role model in public service,” he said.
NADRA COO Syed Abdul Salam said a birth and death notification tool would be added in the next phase, and that lady health workers had already been integrated into the system.Secretary Local Government Shakeel Ahmed Mian called for a province-wide awareness campaign, noting that the digital system would “save citizens from unnecessary visits to offices and long delays.”
