The Policy Committee of the Universal Service Fund (USF) under the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication has approved the budget of over Rs18 billion for 30 projects for the financial year 2021/22 and directed to release funds.
The Policy Committee meeting was chaired by the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Amin Ul Haque and attended by Federal Secretary for IT and Telecommunication Dr Sohail Rajput, Senior Joint Secretary Toaha Hussain Bugti, Member Telecom Muhammad Omar Malik, and other representatives from the Cabinet and the Finance Division.
USF chief executive officer (CEO) Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary apprised the committee on the performance of the last three years and the proposed plans for the new financial year 2021/22.
Addressing the meeting, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque said: “Under the present government, the USF has shown a 100 percent increase in its productivity since inception, with six projects in the first year, 12 in the second year and 25 projects in the third year. It is a testament to the rapid and exceptional performance of the company on which the team deserves compliments.”
“The USF must maintain this positive momentum with transparency, quality, and timely completion of projects,” he added.
The federal minister directed the USF to immediately start projects for the provision of broadband services at key tourist destinations in the Northern Areas and complete them on a priority basis.
He expressed satisfaction over the proposed plans to provide uninterrupted high-speed mobile broadband services on national highways and to deliver optical fibre cable to the union councils level across the country to adapt Pakistan to the requirements of the future, including 5G.
Haque also said that the broadband services and optical fibre projects in the rural and remote areas of the four provinces are fundamental to the fulfillment of the “Digital Pakistan” vision.
At the same time, the USF should develop a system of strict monitoring of these projects so that there are no shortcomings and unnecessary delays.
On the recommendation of the committee members, the federal minister directed the USF to submit a progress report on the status of the projects every three months.
Earlier, Chaudhary apprised the members of the committee that the project in Kohistan region faced delays due to the extreme weather conditions and difficult routes, while another project in the ex-FATA due to the security situation in the area.
These projects are only 5 per cent of the total projects, while 95 per cent of the projects are progressing at their own pace and almost 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the work has been completed.
Further, he said, the USF has a transparent system of technical and monitoring audits based on which the funds are released in proportion to the work completed on the projects.
Source: https://www.bolnews.com/latest/2021/08/usf-committee-approves-rs18-billion-budget-for-30-projects/