After a cascade of financial turmoil, the budget for the next fiscal year is the most talked about topic among the parliamentarians. According to the reports, the government has proposed a Rs 5.4 billion budget allocation for thirty-three schemes in the IT and Telecommunications sector.

Breakdown of the proposed Rs 5.4 Billion budget for the IT Sector

According to the budget documents available with a local media publication, Rs 5.4 billion budget allocation has been proposed for the thirty-three schemes of the IT Sector which include thirty-one old and two new schemes, for which the Government of Pakistan will provide Rs. 4,438.696 million, and the remaining Rs. 1,042 million will be funded via foreign aid.

The proposed budget allocation for the old schemes is as follows:

  1. Rs.100 million for certification of IT professionals through the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB)
  2. Rs.80 million for Crime Analytics and smart policing project
  3. Rs. 50 million for demand-driven industry
  4. Rs. 179 million for providing cloud-based services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
  5. Rs. 243 million for the establishment of the Sino-Pak Centre of Artificial Intelligence
  6. Rs. 200 million and Rs. 100 million for the phase-wise expansion of broadband services in AJK and GB
  7. Rs. 300 million high skill boot camp in Islamabad and Karachi
  8. Rs. 80 million each is proposed for the national expansion of National Incubation Centres (NICs) across Pakistan and the national freelancing program
  9. Rs. 20 million for one patient one ID
  10.  Rs. 102 million for project monitoring and digital transformation cell.

Other proposed allocations includes: protection and up-gradation of Pak China OFC project, smart office, standardization of IT Industry, Technology Park development project, up-gradation of existing TDM, up-gradation of the transmission network, replacement of optical fiber cable in GB and AJK.l, establishment of 25 Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs), general data protection, regulation, compliance management system, hybrid power solutions for Special Communication Organization (SCO) remote sites in AJK and GB, ICT Internship program, president initiative for cyber efficient Parliament, raising smart capital through the private trading market at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), strengthening of ICT infrastructure and office automation at the President Secretariat, a technology export marketing program, a blended virtual education project, cyber security for Pakistan, the establishment of an IT park in Karachi, and a national center for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Budget allocation for the new schemes

Two new projects have also been proposed for Rs.50 million each for the next financial year which include the implementation of critical telecom data and infrastructure security regulations phase one and the expansion of optical transmission networks in AJK and GB.

Read more: IT Ministry Inaugurates Three Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) Projects Worth PKR 5 Billion

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here