ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Census headed by the Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Ali Zaidi, has found the population census 2017, controversial and a meeting to draft final recommendations is expected in the next few days. This was revealed by Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Aminul Haque, who is also member of the census committee, while talking to a select group of journalists, here on Monday.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved constitution of committee on census in January 2020 under the chairmanship of Ali Zaidi, comprising Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal, Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Aminul Haque, and Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza.
The last meeting of the census committee is expected in the next few days, and which has already found the census controversial, said the minister, adding that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has demanded to hold new census before 2023.
Hopefully, everything will be finalised in November regarding the census, said Aminul Haque, adding that Karachi's population had been underestimated. He further said that representation in the national and the provincial assemblies should be in proportion to the population after the new census. The minister said that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)'s performance was not as good as it should be.
Being the regulator, the PTA needs to improve its performance with respect to rules and regulations implementation. Telecom operators are not happy, while complaining that too many show cause notices are being issued by the PTA, the minister added. Haque said that the matter of high taxation on information technology services was raised with the Sindh provincial government as companies were shifting to other provinces owing to high tax rates in the province. The Sindh chief minister has agreed, and has got the approval from the provincial cabinet to reduce the GST on the IT and telecom services.
Replying to another question, he said that any proposal regarding allowing Special Communication Organization (SCO) to operate in Pakistan would not be entertained. The minister said that the Information Telecommunication (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer services and call center services surged to $379.251 million at a growth rate of 43.55 percent during the first quarter (July-September) of fiscal year 2020-2021 compared to $264.187 million during the same period of 2019-2020. The ITeS export remittances surged by 23.71 percent to $1.230 billion in the fiscal year 2019-2020 compared to $994.848 million during the same period last year (2018-2019). The government has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through information technology and IT-enabled services during the next three years, he added.
Replying to another question, the minister said that the Rules for Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules, 2020, will be notified soon, where the government has no intension to restrict or disrupt the flow or dissemination of any online content unless necessary in the interest of glory of Islam, integrity, security and defence of Pakistan, public order, public health, public safety, decency, and morality. All social media companies such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will have to put up community guidelines for its users. Platforms with more than half a million Pakistani users will have to get registered with the PTA and establish a registered office in the country within nine months of the implementation of the rules, he added.
The minister said that within three months of the office's establishment, a focal person would have to be appointed for coordination and a data server system had to be set up within 18 months. Replying to another question, the minister said that the government had decided to release/auction additional available frequency spectrum for improvement of mobile broadband services and network expansion in the country, which was expected to generate billions of non-tax revenue.
He said that the revenue generation would be in billions as there was a huge appetite in the market but the benchmark to be set by the PTA through international consultant.
Additional spectrum release/auction will help enhancement of 4G services and subscribers base which is necessary for the successful launch of 5G technology in the country.
Replying to a question, the minister said that he had proposed to include the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into the spectrum auction committee to ensure transparency, however the NAB distanced itself from the committee.
About IT parks, Haque said that the work was underway on IT Park in Islamabad and its groundbreaking would be done soon. He said that the IT Park in Gilgit had been inaugurated.
He further said that a proposal was under consideration with respect to suspending telecom operators' contribution of 1.5 percent of their annual revenue to the Universal Service Fund (USF); however, no final decision was taken. The government as per its digital Pakistan vision is considering expanding the scope of USF and introducing e-education and e-health.
Haque said that the Ministry of IT was committed to the provision of broadband services in the underserved and unserved areas of the country. He said that the information and communication technology was vital for the socio-economic development of the country.
Replying to another question, the minister said that anti-encroachment campaign would be launched in Karachi this week. Be it Bilawal Chowrangi, Mahmoodabad, Liaquatabad or New Karachi, indiscriminate action will be taken against encroachments everywhere, he added.
Haque said that no one would be allowed to interfere in the development work of Karachi. The Sindh government was also assured about the development works, said the minister, adding that K4 project had been taken up by the federation and would be completed in three years, which cost had escalated from Rs26 billion to Rs60 billion.
Commenting on former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's recent speeches, he said that they condemn any action that threatens the integrity of Pakistan. He further said that all the offices in Pakistan whose documents were with the MQM Pakistan were owned by the MQM Pakistan. A petition has been filed regarding the transfer of properties in London to MQM Pakistan. Beneficiaries of all properties are MQM Pakistan workers and martyrs, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020