Ministry of IT is a sheer waste of tax payer's money..

[Wahaj us Siraj/MGMT]

ISPAK letter to the Prime Minister….

 

 

Mrs. Nergis Sethi

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

Government of Pakistan

Islamabad

 

Subject:           Industry Representation to Resolve Serious Issues

 

Dear Madam,

 

            We’re writing this to appraise the honourable Prime Minister, in his capacity as Minister (in-charge) for IT & Telecom (MOIT), through your good office regarding the non-responsiveness of MOIT to resolve the burning and long outstanding issues of the Internet industry.

 

2.         Internet industry representatives had a meeting with the Secretary MOIT on 25 June 2009 and the Secretary promised to resolve the issues immediately. Since then we’ve been following up with his office through reminders but nothing has been done so far. This shows the total lethargy and ineffectiveness of the Ministry in dealing with its stakeholders on policy issues strangling the IT and telecom industry of the country. Copies of our letters are enclosed.

 

3.         MOIT was established by the Government to act as fast paced Ministry to bring a fundamental change in the IT and telecom landscape of the country. The Ministry, unlike conventional Ministries, is manned by professionals in lucrative MP pay scales. But for the last few years, MOIT has done nothing to solve the problems of the industry for which it was actually created. If MOIT cannot resolve the issues and crises being faced by the IT and telecom industry, then it would be worthwhile to close this Ministry and divert tax payer’s money to some productive use.

 

4.         We hope that you’d kindly bring this to the notice of the Prime Minister and take action accordingly.

 

            With kind regards.

 

 

Yours truly,

 

 

 

Wahaj us Siraj

Convener

Encl. As stated

 

[Junaid Zaabir]

Dear Mr. Wahaj ul Siraj,

 

You have written this letter to someone who is responsible for:

 

1. not appointing a minister (but most likely that woulnd have made a difference)
2. appointing the present Federal Secy who claims there is no digital divide in this country and hits back when told what doesnt come under the purview of policy as he deems himself a scholar of public policy
3. appointing Member Telecom on merit for he was given a llist of three shortlisted candidates one coming from army background and the other having a case of corruption so the obvious choice was the incumbent Member Telecom whose competence is well known to all of us. This was a hiring on merit for how could the prime miniter know his competence when the list provided to him was engineered innocently?

 In my view as long as this govt remains it would be much better not to have a policy as the people being paid from the taxpayer's money have no understanding of what gap analysis they should conduct forn the previous targets/policy and what new targets we need to set for which policy framework needs to be formulated.

 

Knowing the way beuraucracy works, PSPM will send this letter to secretary saab who will draft a lengthy response drafted by the ones whom otherwise someone won't even hire as clerks but the ministry pays them in MP scales. Then PSPM will submit this letter along with secy saab's response and advise the PM on what response he should give to your letter. So expect a letter which will give you some comfort and once again ask the ministry to resolve your issues.

 

The case will be closed in the pm sectt and remain in the domain of ministry who would either start its consultation or conveniently send it to PTA (when it would feel cornered).

 

What has become of PTA during the last few years is known to all of us as General made sure to leave behind a very weak and meek authority despite having brought some talent from the market.

 

During the consultation with stakeholders recently Member Telecom's presentation had convergence coming in the last and that too as an unclear subject and most of the time was spent on issues which were not at all related to policy review.

 

It is unfortunate that all the stalwarts of the previous policy are now out of scene and the ministry doesnt even have a support of a foreign consultant who could put some sense. but then having a foreign consultant can be a myth for the one they hired for broadband policy were good for nothing

 

You are expecting solutions from a ministry that has started disbursing USF for broadband without giving the chance to the market to serve the addressable demand and that is why now broadband operators are crying when PTCL is offering cheap broadband in areas where it has been given subsidy. this is just one example of how blindly the ministry and usf company have made a fool of themselves by distorting the market in a sector where level playing is a must.

 

I have a lot more to say but i dont want to write it here for it will not change anything as we are unfortunate to have incompetence and lack of will amongst the people who could otherwise make a lot of difference given the positions they are occupying

 

May God have his mercy on us.....

[Wahaj us Siraj]

Dear Mr. Junaid,

You're absolutely right. But there has to be some voice and noise from
our side. We're the tax payers. We're contributors to USF and ICT R&D
Fund. We pay PTA's fees. Hence we pay salaries of PTA, MOIT, USF, R&D
Fund, etc., officials. We pay for salaries of all in lucrative MP
scales, their foreign trips, their cars, etc. So we're their pay
masters. That's why they're called "Public Servants". We're the
public. They're here to serve us, not rule us. They've to listen to
us. If not, we'd keep increasing our voice so as to reach their deaf
ears. Either these brown sahibs would listen to us or we'd get them
replaced inshallah.

If MOIT, PTA, etc., can not take care of the industry, they needs to
be closed.

Mr. Junaid, raising voice is essential if we want to develop our
society. If we're not raising voice, then it's like joining bunch of
those incompetent and thugs. Raising voice and struggle does bring a
change. We've seen this happening in our country and particularly
telecom sector. I still remember those days of mid 90s when CEOs of
start up companies were made to wait for hours to see a Divisional
Engineer in PTCL or a clerk of PTA. Other regulatory authorities,
PEMRA, NEPRA, OGRA, etc., are more or less at the same level today
where PTA was in late 90s. That change was brought due to a very vocal
industry. So we should not loose hope and keep up our struggle.

Kind regards...Wahaj

On Oct 8, 12:01 am, Junaid Zaabir <jzaa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Mr. Wahaj ul Siraj,
>
> You have written this letter to someone who is responsible for:
>

>    1. not appointing a minister (but most likely that woulnd have made a
>    difference)
>    2. appointing the present Federal Secy who claims there is no digital

>    divide in this country and hits back when told what doesnt come under the
>    purview of policy as he deems himself a scholar of public policy

>    3. appointing Member Telecom on merit for he was given a llist of three

> > *Mrs. Nergis Sethi*

>
> > Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
>
> > Government of Pakistan
>

> > *Islamabad*
>
> > Subject:           *Industry Representation to Resolve Serious Issues*

>
> > Dear Madam,
>
> >             We’re writing this to appraise the honourable Prime Minister,
> > in his capacity as Minister (in-charge) for IT & Telecom (MOIT), through
> > your good office regarding the non-responsiveness of MOIT to resolve the
> > burning and long outstanding issues of the Internet industry.
>
> > 2.         Internet industry representatives had a meeting with the
> > Secretary MOIT on 25 June 2009 and the Secretary promised to resolve the
> > issues immediately. Since then we’ve been following up with his office
> > through reminders but nothing has been done so far. This shows the total
> > lethargy and ineffectiveness of the Ministry in dealing with its
> > stakeholders on policy issues strangling the IT and telecom industry of the
> > country. Copies of our letters are enclosed.
>
> > 3.         MOIT was established by the Government to act as fast paced
> > Ministry to bring a fundamental change in the IT and telecom landscape of
> > the country. The Ministry, unlike conventional Ministries, is manned by
> > professionals in lucrative MP pay scales. But for the last few years, MOIT
> > has done nothing to solve the problems of the industry for which it was
> > actually created. If MOIT cannot resolve the issues and crises being faced
> > by the IT and telecom industry, then it would be worthwhile to close this
> > Ministry and divert tax payer’s money to some productive use.
>
> > 4.         We hope that you’d kindly bring this to the notice of the Prime
> > Minister and take action accordingly.
>
> >             With kind regards.
>
> > Yours truly,
>

> > *Wahaj us Siraj*
>
> > Convener
>
> > Encl. *As stated*

[Junaid Zaabir]

The voice and noise we raise loses purpose and objectivity when the real problem at hand is beyond the scope of this forum. The "Public Servants" are put accountable by working under People's representatives. There isnt much we can do about both of these categories in the shortrun for change of face is not the puprpose but the thought process and maturity of actionswhich will only come through a long process