ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here on Saturday approved release of fund of Rs 5 billion for USF Tele-center Projects throughout Pakistan.
The Minister also simultaneously ordered release of Rs 5 billion from federal consolidated fund (FCF) for the USF project.
In addition Rs 1 billion would also be released for the R&D projects.
The Finance Minister had a detailed meeting with Minister for IT, Anusha Rehman along with senior officials of her Ministry and representatives of the USF, according to statement issued by Ministry.
The Finance Minister was given a detailed presentation on the Tele-center project and informed that the basic idea behind setting up these centres was to provide access to people in far-flung areas of the country to e-communication and IT facilities.
He was apprised that 500 Tele-centres were proposed to be built at a total cost of Rs 11.5 billion in a period of three years.
The Minister was also informed that 417 sites for the centers had been surveyed to date, and 217 were qualified sites.
The Minister was also briefed about the design and layout of the Tele-centers which he highly appreciated.
Ishaq Dar said that the government while announcing the budget 2014-15 had resolved to facilitate the public at large in terms of IT communication facilities and was accordingly releasing the requisite funds for undertaking the Tele-center project.
He also lauded the efforts of IT Minister, Anusha Rehman in promoting IT in the country.
The meeting was also attended by Secretary Finance, Dr Waqar Masood and Advisor Finance Division, Rana Assad Amin.
