The Federal Government has dropped all new schemes for the IT sector due to financial constraints.
According to documents available with ProPakistani, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) has proposed nine new schemes for the IT sector for the financial year 2022–23, but the planning commission has not allocated funds for a single new scheme in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2022–23.
The total cost of these new schemes collectively is Rs. 3367.73 million, and the MoITT has demanded Rs. 1338.211 million for the PSDP 2022–23.
The schemes of the IT sector that have been dropped due to financial constraints include “E-Office replication in all divisions of the Federal Government (phase-ii),” “National Job Portal,” “Pak App,” “Smart City App,” and “Prime Minister Office Task Workflow Automation & Upgradation on (phase-iii).”
The other schemes of the IT sector that could not find their place in the PSDP-23 included “Unified DLIMS in Pakistan,” “Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security and Big Data Analysis at the University of Turbat,” “Establishment of Kech Business Incubation Centre,” and “Establishment of Business Incubation Centre in Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology.”
According to the MoITT, there have been several meetings with the planning commission regarding new projects for the IT sector. During these meetings, the ministry has tried to convince the planning commission of the allocation of funds for these new projects. The planning commission has apologized for not providing the funds in view of the current financial crisis.