Awan under consideration for IT secretary slot

Establishment Division may issue official notification shortly.

KARACHI:

The Establishment Division is likely to award the most important position in the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) to Farooq Ahmed Awan – a controversial bureaucrat twice suspended by the Lahore High Court from positions he held in the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority – The Express Tribune has learned.

Establishment Division Secretary Taimur Azmat Usman is expected to issue an official notification shortly, if not today, to appoint Awan as Secretary, MoITT – the highest bureaucratic position an official can take in the ministry after the federal minister – a senior government official told this correspondent on condition of anonymity.



A Grade-21 officer, Awan was recently appointed on deputation to serve as PTA’s acting member finance, but the LHC suspended him early this month even before he could take charge. This was the second time the LHC barred him from serving the telecom regulator – he had already been terminated from PTA’s chairmanship by the LHC in mid-January.

Awan’s personal secretary has been telling various officers in the ministry and PTA that Awan is going to take over the seat of Secretary, MoITT – a position he has already held between February 2012 and August 2012, two officials confirmed.

“The establishment is hell-bent on appointing him [Awan] on key positions, despite his failures to produce any results both in the PTA and the MoITT,” an official said.

It merits mentioning here that the position of IT secretary – only second to the minister – is highly significant for many reasons.

The MoITT is the umbrella body for various important bodies that include the Pakistan Software Export Board, the National Telecommunication Corporation, the Universal Service Fund, the Information Communication Technology Research and Development Fund, the telephone industries of Pakistan and the Virtual University.

In the absence of a minister, the IT secretary is the man in charge, an official said. The ministry forms policies, while the PTA is responsible for enforcement and regulation, he said. The secretary, therefore, can influence the regulator.

Explaining how clean and competent leadership of the ministry can benefit the country and its economy, an official said: “Every country made its own model while the deregulation of the telecom industry was taking place globally, but ours was a success story not only in the region but also worldwide.”

When the Pakistani government went for deregulation of the ICT industry, the officer said, it attracted huge foreign investment. The government allowed wireless local loop operators and long distance international operators to enter the market, which not only brought foreign direct investment but also resulted in a decrease in charges for internet and telephony because of competition, he said.

“All this progress comes down to policy, which is made by the MoITT,” the official said, adding, “It is therefore important to place competent and clean people on positions like this.”

During Awan’s previous tenure as IT secretary, the industry made no progress, the source said. The industry resented his appointment in the first place, he said. “Awan micromanaged the industry,” he complained.

As PTA chairman, Awan failed to complete the auction for third generation mobile spectrum licences on two occasions, mainly due to mishandling the process and violating laws, the official said.

The Express Tribune tried to contact Awan on both his cellular phone and email, to which he did not respond. It also contacted the Establishment Division secretary for confirmation, but he, too, did not respond to calls or messages left on his cellphone.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2013.

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“Investors were similarly worried when the market corrected nearly 500 points in January, but then it went on to add 2,000 points as of last Friday,” recalled Azfar Naseem, Head of Research at Elixir Securities. “This correction was due. You cannot say the gas pipeline has alone caused the decline, because investors knew beforehand it was going to happen. It was open knowledge.”

“The earnings announcements season is over and there are no significant triggers, which is why the news seems so important,” he continued. “Behind the scenes, however, you have investors worrying about Engro’s gas pricing issue and the end of this government’s tenure.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2013.

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