- Advertisement -
ISLAMABAD, Jan 12 (APP):The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology chaired by Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan here on Monday to review matters related to Corruption, Cybercrime, Data Security, Internet Connectivity, and Digital Governance.
The committee was briefed on a Corruption case involving Rs. 1.5 crore monthly, wherein the Additional Director General Anti-Money, said a press release.
Laundering, FIA informed that an FIR has been registered and investigations were underway and apprised the committee that 13 officers of grades 16 to 19 had been convicted. Of these, three are on protective bail and two had been granted post-arrest bail. Only Rs. 15,00,00 had been recovered so far. The chairperson expressed concern over the delay in finalizing the case and sought a timeline, which the authorities failed to provide.
FIA officials informed that 271 officers were penalized during the last year, which comprises over 5.8 percent of the total FIA strength. Senator Pervaiz Rashid expressed concern over the performance of the FIA and stressed the need for timely preventive measures.
The committee was informed that while Call Centers were not illegal, many unregistered centers were involved in fraudulent activities. FIA stated that illegal Call Centers operate covertly, making it difficult to ascertain their exact number, but assured continued action against such operations.
NADRA officials briefed the committee on Data Security Measures. The Chairperson expressed dissatisfaction over NADRA’s handling of data breaches involving dignitaries. The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Interior, informed that over 80 percent of NADRA’s data has been secured through modern protocols and that aliens had been removed from the database.
Senator Afnan Ullah Khan recommended for conducting a third-party forensic audit of NADRA, and the committee further decided to summon the Chairman NADRA in the next meeting to brief the committee over the latest progress regarding data security.