The minister, bureaucracy, and officials at the Ministry of IT and Telecom have failed the incumbent government in providing jobs, bringing FDI and other promises that they had made before the elections.
Lack of direction and inappropriate arrangements at the ministry of IT are causing numerous delays in decision making, piles of files, unconcluded developments and a stale industry that is bound to break down if not corrected quickly.
The minister himself is not making any significant contributions in terms of giving a concrete objective or vision to the ministry.
While speaking to ProPakistani, multiple sources, who are part of PM’s Task Force for IT and Telecom, said that activity at Ministry of IT and Telecom has stagnated and nothing is going in the right direction.
Experts said that inaction from the Ministry of IT and Telecom is causing huge losses for the industry and the country as a whole. As a result, telecom operators, infrastructure providers, and sub-vendors have been downsizing and eliminating jobs for engineers and educated youth.
“We were destined for this failure; what can you expect from the industry if bureaucracy decides to do nothing and instead wants to delay everything that’s thrown at it?”, remarked the CEO of a telecom vendor.
PTI government had promised job creation, increase in FDI and empowerment of the youth, but ironically the MoITT has decided to not only fail PTI government but to create economic chaos in the country by not doing any work.
When asked the reason behind this apathy, our sources said that it’s mostly incompetence and partly the fear of NAB. He said that the majority of officers consider that doing nothing is safer than making decisions and answering NAB at a later stage.
As a result, files aren’t moving and decision making is at a standstill.
This also means that recommendations coming from PM’s Task Force for Telecom and IT aren’t implemented as well.
It is interesting to note here that some of the recommendations, that were made by the task force, for instance, didn’t involve any funding or monetary support from the government.
MoIT could simply make policies, based on recommendation or after further consultation with stakeholders, and help the telecom sector grow.
Right of Way, for instance, is one such recommendation that the task force has shared with the Ministry of IT and Telecom.
For those who don’t know, telecom operators’ biggest challenge (other than taxes) today is right of way, as they are not allowed to lay down their fiber, copper or other infrastructure by local authorities, societies, private builders, etc.
Telecom operators are asked hefty amounts for just laying fiber in DHA, Bahria Towns, and other metropolitan areas.
Currently, there’s no policy or rule that could govern RoW issues for telecom operators. As a result, local authorities, DHA, and private societies charge telecom operators as per their will and even restrict telecom operators from burring fiber optic or erecting the telecom towers.
Since there are no rules, the telecom operators are blackmailed and charged higher amounts where it’s not possible for them to avoid.
PM’s Task Force had recommended the MoIT to resolve this decades-long pending issue so that telecom operators are allowed to stretch their coverage in new areas.
The situation is not only resulting in losses for telecom companies but consumers also suffer due to in-availability of telecom services in their areas.
Marc-André Franche, the country director for UNDP during 2012-2016, had rightly said that the elite of Pakistan should decide if they need a country or not. Today, Ministry of IT and Telecom needs to decide if they need the sector or not. If yes, they should get to work immediately, or there won’t be an industry in the coming years to minister.
Is there anything good this Govtbis doing. I am not a Patwari. I voted PTI in this election but now wondering what is different they are doing? And realised that they are doing nothing to be precise.
Yes I’m also ex pti supporter. Imran ke hote we kisi aur ke zarorat nai hai woh akele he kaafe hai PTI govt. ko fail karne ke liye so incompetent idiot.
We all know what failing PTI govt. Thank you
imran khan might be honest but honesty doesn’t solve anything if you’re incapable.
However more time should be give to the govt to test them
Incompetence is more harmful to country than Corruption.
Corruption shouldn’t be supported in anyway. Haram is haram!!!
It should be noticed that NAB is independent regime, it is bureaucracy which has screwed up Pakistani system, it is also giving a tough time to PTI, due to the flawed system and processes they fear that NAB will come after them, so it is better not to do anything, so we have to clearly identify, it is the bureaucracy causing this. GOVT. changes, but bureaucracy remains the same and it has been fed by 40 years+ of bullshit to reach to this level.
It is plan to fail attitude of Govt. offices as most institutions have planted employees by the old corrupt administration who are doing everything to make PRI failed. PTI is not running IT and Telecom department.
To me this article looks like an intentional move to bring the ministry under pressure as the license of two mobile operators is due.
Actually true. The author has no focus in the article.
Of course because they were supposed to decide 2 years ago. If people don’t write against their lazyness then nothing will ever happen.
RoW is also a major problem. How will we progress if we don’t get fiber connectivity? The rest of the world is forging ahead. We already have a lower internet penetration rate than the global average (30% vs 50%).
the title should say “PTI is all set to fail the Government”
time for lame excuses is up. 1 year will soon come to its end and they are still in talking, stalling and blaming mode.
Sorry to say, but it’s true… Mr. Amir Atta, sometimes also publish a paid article, like the one, this article is… It’s just due to the reasons that licenses are not awarded on the old price of 291 Mn $…. and blame is on NAB… If previous MOIT regime awarded free of cast LTE to Warid in 2014 in the garb of tech neutrality, then everything is fine… And once Govt is not playing in the hands of telecom mafia like AMIR ATTA is playing… Then Govt is at collapse… What a shame Mr. Amir Atta…..
Government signed a contract with the telcos that said that the renewal fee would be $291 million. Government is breaking the contract and asking for more money. That is why it was taken to court over it.
This is the renewal fee not the auction fee. It is important that the terms of the renewal don’t change so that as a business you know what your obligations are in advance. Also note that all these fees get passed on to consumers in the end i.e. you and me. To advocate for higher fees is like shooting yourself in the foot! Try and look past government propaganda!
Allow me to add one thing more… We should give this credit to PTI Govt, at least they attempted to identify Grey areas to promote telecom and create jobs… On the other hand, under telecom Policy 2015, previous Govt IT Ministry stalwarts have to make legal frameworks and implementation policies as per the intent and vision of 2015 Policy,.. But not a single Policy was made… These stalwarts are still around at IT Ministry… TABDEELI Lani hai, to in idiots psedu professionals ko b change Karna ho ga…..
I think the people of Pakistan are mostly in favour of backwardness. They look around them and see that everything is failing except for the telecoms industry which continues to grow. So they are jealous and want to drag it down too. The MoIT is a reflection of the people’s priorities. They don’t really want the country to progress.
Good to know Amir sahib is coming to senses about this whole pti policies…. I’m not a noon or pp fan but pti has quite weaker team … most are same front men of choors before and others have their own biz interests… there is nothing for the love of the country…
Assad umer was biggest blunder and the second is the imf….. they will doom pti for sure
It’s high time to replace old faces with new vibrant faces at ministry of IT. Otherwise, these old officials will not be able to do much be it PTI or some other govt, results will be the same. So to get good results, you need new good people hired on merit, not status quo!
Aamir goes painfully direct. His investments must be stuck.