700 million PKR was the initial bid/budget.
01 million trainees were planned.
1.2 million people have been trained already.
Until now, after two years, 550 success stories are accumulating foreign remittances of just less than $0.5 million or 80 million Pak Rupees.
It means not even a thousand people earned an average of 150,000 Pak Rupees each or a minimum wage for only 08 months in the last two years (17,500 PKR is the current minimum wage in Pakistan).
It also means, only 01 out of 2000 trained people got any outcome.
CIEN AÑOS DE PERDÓN (English: TO STEAL FROM A THIEF) was a Spanish movie released in 2016, which was full of thrill, that how to cheat the cheaters. Our nation used to practice that every day. We are best in record tampering, data manipulation, intellectual dishonesty, and moral corruption. Anything with the word:
*e
*online
*digital
*virtual
*remote
*computerized
*artificial intelligence
*big data
*data science
*cloud
*web
*mobile app, etc. is a sweet deception tactic to fool not only the general public but the regularity authorities and officials to get funding. It is our third national illusory trust after Mullah and the Military to fool the people of Pakistan.
In 2017-18, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Government of Pakistan, came up with an innovative idea to train 01 million people of Pakistan and equip them with Digital Skills. So they can freelance their services online over the internet. It seemed very lucrative and fruitful at the first look, and it was presented as a double-edged sword:
1). Provide employment opportunities to 01 million people and
2). Earn foreign remittances to increase foreign exchange reserves.
Like the Water Car Fraud by Agha Waqar Ahmed in 2012, when our government ministers, officials, experts, scientists, scholars, and engineers welcomed that as a landmark invention and discovery, it was a very similar scam because we are insolvent in knowledge and wisdom. Our education system does not encourage questioning, reasoning, teaching, and learning but a cult following.
Despite that Water Car Fraud balloon has been busted shortly after that. But still, we cannot dare to declare those admirers as so-called scholars, pseudo scientists, etc. We cannot question their qualifications, eligibilities, and appointments, even they have proven fake degrees, that’s also okay.
Our fear, greed, and religious hypocrisy can be damaged if we speak the truth, stand for the right, or ask for justice.
Similarly, from parliamentary committees to planning commission, everyone is praising the “DigiSkills Fraud” and all other scams by MOITT and VUP. Before going into any technical matter, we need andragogy for our public representatives, regularity authorities, and officials. I feel pity for all of them.
The Virtual University of Pakistan which was already a crime partner of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication won this “DigiSkills” project budgeting almost 700 Million PKR in December 2017.
On May 30, 2018, the “DigiSkills” went live for enrollments. Two years have been passed and the “DigiSkills” not only met the initial target to train 01 million people but it claimed that over 1.2 million signups with over 1.5 million enrolments. Everything is fake, forged, and just on-paper.
The calculations should be simple that if 1.2 million people are trained and certified then they need to earn at least a minimum basic wage, which is 17,500 PKR or you can take $110 per month or $1320 yearly.
1.2 Million X 1.2 Million = $1.584 Billion per year but 0.5 Million is actual earning in the last 02 years. It means we are 634 times behind the expected result of just minimum wage.
This is Fiscal Year 2021 or FY21, it was started on 01 July 2020 and it will be concluded on 30 June 2021. I have included the record of our IT and ITeS Exports with its growth rate to clarify the picture. Pakistan IT & ITeS Exports (PSEB and MOITT):
FY13 $330 M, – – – – –
FY14 $370 M, +12%
FY15 $519 M, +40%
FY16 $565 M, +08%
FY17 $655 M, +16%
FY18 $833 M, +27%
FY19 $902 M, +08%
*FY20 $1231 M, +36% (This figure is not confirmed by PSEB or MOITT, State Bank of Pakistan reports different figures from PSEB due to some other cash inflows)
FY21 – – – – – – – – – –
To avoid the “High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action” aka black-list and get out from the “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” aka gray-list of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and APG (Asia/Pacific Group) on Money Laundering and Terror Financing, Pakistan is implementing FATF’s 40 recommendations to meet international standards. It is a process of documenting our undocumented economy and enforce legal channels for monetary inflows and outflows which will ultimately increase the use of official channels to transact payments. It simply double or even triple our GDP on paper, and IT and ITeS Exports also but there will not be any social or economic impact of this initiative unless who benefited from this corruption. The criminal and corrupt culprits will use those figures to justify their corruption. Masters of stupidity will cheer that.
Almighty Bless the Federation of Pakistan.
Tahir Ramzan 