PM Shehbaz appoints PTI govt’s digital aide Tania Aidrus to head ‘Digital Nation Pakistan Initiative’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted an interim Digital Committee for the Digital Nation Pakistan initiative, it emerged on Wednesday.

In a notification dated April 17, the Federal Ministry for Information Technology and Telecommunication appointed Tania S. Aidrus, a digital expert, as the convener of an interim Digital Committee. The notification has been issued with the approval of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. 

Furthermore, it notified that the State Minister of IT & Telecom will be Chair of the committee, and Tania S. Aidrus will act as convener. Other members include the Secretary of IT & Telecom, Dr. Sohail Munir, Salman Ahmed, Muhammad Ali Raza, and a member Co-opted by the Chair.

The objective of the committee is to provide transitional leadership and lay the groundwork for the formal establishment of the National Digital Commission (NDC) and Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA), the notification reads. Regarding digital vision, the committee will make its recommendations to the government. 

Earlier, Tania Adirus served as former Head of PM Imran Khan’s Digital Pakistan Initiative, but resigned from her position on June 29, 2020, following extreme criticism from the establishment and the opposition for having dual nationality. 

A senior official of the ministry has said that a similar committee was formed during former premier Imran Khan’s tenure and efforts were made for Digital Pakistan. Now a new committee has been formed and Tania has been re-appointed to it.

Sources told Daily Ausaf that Tania was then appointed as Special Assistant to PM Khan on the recommendation of Jahangir Tareen. However, under opposition pressure and law enforcement agencies reports, she was removed for having a foreign passport.