IT sector can provide employment to millions of Pakistanis, says Alvi

The IT sector can play a critical role in providing employment to millions of Pakistanis and contributing towards the economic progress of the country, President Dr Arif Alvi said on Monday at the signing ceremony of initiating an optic fibre cable (OFC) project to provide connectivity in three districts of Sindh.

The Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, through the Universal Service Fund (USF), has initiated a project worth Rs2.1 billion in Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroz, and Khairpur districts to lay down the OFC.

Alvi thought it was necessary to keep up with the changing times and embracing technological developments taking place globally, and the prime minister’s vision of Digital Pakistan required that Pakistan meet the international standards of technological advancement and progress.

Praising Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque for “working hard to ensure to materialise the vision of Digital Pakistan”, Alvi said that the IT sector could play a critical role in providing employment to millions of Pakistanis and contributing towards the economic progress of the country.

Haque said that during the last three years, the ministry had worked on nine projects worth Rs8.48 billion entailing the provision of mobile broadband services and laid down fiber optical network in Sindh.

Criticising the Sindh government for “bad governance”, he said that the Pakistan Peoples Party during its 13-year rule in the province had been causing grief to the province’s residents and had not served them well. “The Sindh government has siphoned off Rs1,800 billion and not delivered a single development project,” he alleged.

“I am elected from Karachi but I aim to serve the entire population of Sindh,” said Haque, who is also a central leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movemnet-Pakistan.

“The residents of Sindh will not listen to the noise being generated by the Sindh government or the accusations they level. A new province in the Sindh province is the demand of the marginalised and suppressed Sindhi populace,” he said. “The growth and progress of Sindh are only possible through the division of administrative units.”

Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary, the USF’s CEO, said fiber optical cable projects had been expanded to the union council level on the direction of Federal Minister Haque.

“The project worth Rs2.1 billion has been awarded to Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in recognition of their efforts for connecting millions of people across Pakistan,” he said. “Under this project, a total of 101 towns and union councils will be connected through a 709.5-kilometre optic fiber cable, benefiting a population of 2.8 million residents of these areas and enabling the communities and ecosystem.”

The USF’s Chaudhary, and the PTCL’s acting CEO and group chief financial officer, Nadeem Khan, signed the agreement. IT Federal Secretary Dr Sohail Rajput was also present on the occasion.