PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has launched a fully digital driving license management scheme, providing great convenience to citizens who are going to apply for driving licenses. The digital license scheme was launched by the provincial Chief Minister, Sohail Afridi.
He described the launching of the scheme as the fulfilment of the dream of former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.
With the introduction of this scheme, driving licenses will be issued digitally and on a merit basis. According to Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, this initiative represents a historic achievement in the history of the province. It is also part of the efforts of the provincial government towards introducing e-governance and e-services.
During the inauguration of the scheme, it came to light from the briefing of officials that the pilot project of the scheme issued hundreds of learner and permanent driving licenses. This system has also introduced an AI-based facial recognition tool and QR code verification along with an online medical certificate check-up.
KP assembly passes ETEA Bill 2026 to modernize testing and recruitment systems
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly has unanimously passed the KP Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency Bill 2026, which seeks to bring far-reaching reforms in the province’s examination and recruitment system.
The bill passed during a sitting on Monday gave the agency independence of finance and administration and widened its mandate outside the province and even to federal departments.
Under the new set of rules, the board of governors of ETEA would be chaired by the chief minister with a view to making sure that the process of admission and recruitment was transparent and based on merit.
According to officials, the newly granted authority would also conduct entrance tests for professional colleges and universities and recruitments from private and government institutions in screening and recruitment exams. Besides, it will conduct tests for federal and provincial governments and private organizations.
The new rules give the body more powers to punish the practice of cheating during the examinations besides having a legal right to declare a place as a test venue.
An endowment fund for supporting the operations of the body would be established. It should be noted that the bill also places emphasis on promoting research, improving standards of learning, and developing capabilities within the testing system.
According to the new bill, ETEA should present an annual audit report to the provincial assembly. The newly adopted law is meant to replace the existing ordinance from 2001.
It was explained by officials that the main purpose of the reforms is the modernization of the testing process, increasing merit selection and finally improving the education and recruitment system of the province.
