Ministry allowed to fill 415 vacant posts

Directed to ensure fair representation of women in wing

ISLAMABAD: The government has granted no-objection certificate (NoC) to the Ministry of Interior to fill 415 vacant posts of different cadres in the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA).

“The Ministry of Interior may fill vacant post of different cadres, (officers/staff BS 01 to 19) for the National Response Centre for Cyber Crime Wing (NR3C) Phase-111 in accordance with the approved recruitment rules,” stated a letter of Cabinet Secretariat, Establishment Division Government of Pakistan.

The copy of the letter available with The Express Tribune also stated that obtaining a prior NoC from the division is mandatory before making any kind of recruitment.

Moreover, surplus employees are regular civil servants and cannot be posted against projects/contractual post as per the policy in vague.

After the passage of the Cybercrime Bill from parliament in 2016, the cybercrime wing had badly needed recruitment of staff to deal with a large number of cyber-related offences in the country.

As millions of citizens have the facility of smartphones and easy access to the internet, the cybercrime-related offences are increasing in the country.

Most of the cases are related to misuse of the social media and a number of people register their complaints with the wing on a daily basis.

“The NoC is valid for a period of six months from the date of its issuance. However, according to para 1 (xiii) of the recruitment policy guideline dated 22-10-2014 as amended on 21-09-2017, recruitment is required to be finalised within 90 days from the date of advertisement,” further stated the letter.

Moreover, in another major development the federal government also approved the rules for the Cybercrime Wing named as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Investigation Rules 2018.



Under the rules, the wing will have three sub-wings, namely the investigation section, forensics section and data and network security section.

The director general shall be responsible for overall administration of the wing and authorised to exercise the powers of the investigation agency under the act.

The FIA, in addition to the Cyber Crime Reporting Centres and forensic laboratories notified under Schedule III, may establish with the prior approval of the Ministry of Interior, further Cybercrime Reporting Centres and forensic laboratories at such places, as may be deemed necessary.
According to sources under this provision 10 more Cybercrime Reporting Centres would be established throughout the country.

According to the approved rules, the director general shall ensure fair representation of women in the wing and at least 25 per cent of investigation and helpdesk officers at the reporting centres shall be women.



Moreover, the wing shall establish helpdesks, comprising duty officers under the supervision of circle in-charge at all the reporting centres.

Under the rules, a complaint management and tracking system will be installed at the cybercrime headquarters and the Cybercrime Reporting Centres to digitalise registration and expedite processing of cyber complaints.