Information technology companies are shifting from Sindh to other provinces owing to high tax rates in the province. This was revealed by Federal Secretary for Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui. He was briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, which met with Rubina Khalid in the chair here on Wednesday.
The secretary said MoITT had submitted proposals to the PM's Office for resolving issues related to double taxation of IT companies. That initiative would help in removing impediments in domestic IT business growth as well, he added.
The secretary said the prime minister had chaired a high-level meeting regarding promotion of growth of IT/Telecom sector and resultantly some decisions/directions were currently being implemented. He said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was directed to increase limit for remittances for freelancers and the same had been increased to $25,000. Further, the SBP has agreed to facilitate opening of bank accounts for freelancers and ensuring all kind of support in this regard.
Siddiqui further said that a summary to the prime minister was under process to encourage Pakistani products and to give preference to Pakistani software products by all ministries/divisions, which would help in the growth of domestic IT business.
Special Technology Zones will be developed in the country to promote IT/ITeS growth. In this regard, a PSDP proposal of Rs 6.5 billion has been submitted to the Planning Commission by the MoITT. Rubina Khalid said that people created fake accounts and defamed famous people including parliamentarians to achieve their nefarious goals.
She said clear directives were given to the FIA for taking action against those people. Khalid further said false rumours were spread about Senators Kulsoom Parveen, Taj Mohammad Afridi, Aitzaz Ahsan and herself. "If we are being targeted, than what about the common man?" she asked.
Khalid further said that simply blocking the accounts of false rumour mongers and accusers would not solve the problem. The committee should be informed in the next meeting that what are the problems being faced by the organisation and what steps the committee can take for them.
The Standing Committee was informed that cyber crime wing rules had been formed under the PACA Act. The FIA has its own business and the cyber crime wing has its own procedures. In addition to the lack of human resources in the cyber crime wing, there are numerous issues that need to be addressed.
The committee was told that in such cases, the accounts are closed and in some cases the Facebook administration provides information, and in some cases if information is not received from them, it is difficult to move forward.
In the committee meeting, the issue of fake news regarding Senator Taj Mohammad Afridi was also reviewed in detail. Senator Taj Mohammad Afridi said that false and baseless rumours had been spread against him by seeking information from the Gmail administration to expose those involved.
It is better for them to get details from the Prime Minister's Portal Cell in the upcoming meeting. The FIA official informed the committee that 56,625 cyber crimes complaints were received during 2019, where 32 convictions were made. The committee lamented that only 32 out of the 56,625 complaints were being prosecuted.
The Standing Committee was also apprised of the details of the allocation and utilization of the Ministry of Information Technology. The committee was informed that 17.72 percent of the budget allocated by the ministry has been used so far this year.
Only 33.51 percent of the budget allocated for employee expenses was used. The budget should have been spent more but budget was less due to vacant posts. Only 0.76 percent of the employee's allowance was spent on retirement.
The committee was briefed on the details of development budget and plans. The committee was informed that there were 29 schemes for promotion of IT, four of which were in the approval phase. The Standing Committee called for development projects to improve the efficiency of the ministry, while expressing strong concerns over budgetary expenditures and the slow pace of work.
The chairperson and members committee expressed their concern over the number of errors in the working paper sent by the ministry, saying that it seems that all the briefing copy has been "cut and pasted". The Standing Committee postponed the briefing regarding the development budget till the next meeting.
Siddiqui said Pakistan was at fourth position in freelancing in the world and hopefully it would acquire number three position. Government is endeavouring to promote freelancing through IT and in this regard National Freelance Training Programme costing Rs 367.2 million has been approved in the Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) meeting.
He said Punjab IT Board would work on that programme and it would jointly work with universities for arranging trainings for freelancers across the country. Local trainers would be hired for that purpose that would result in promotion of freelancing, he added.
Siddiqui said that National Freelance Training Programme was of three years and it was first program of its kind at the national level in Pakistan. He said that more home jobs and income avenues would open through freelancing.
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