The following is a clarification issued by the Ministry of IT and Ignite regarding a news report IT ministry wants to pioneer 'anti electricity theft technology' published by Dawn.com on Sept 12, 2018.

Ministry of Information Technology and its implementation body for funding technology Research and Development activities i.e. Ignite would like to clarify news items carried by some quarters of the media consequent to the Meeting of the Senate Standing Committee of Information Technology and telecom held on 12th September 2018.

The media stories, while referring to the presentation delivered by Ignite on R&D activities, have erroneously reported that Ministry of IT and Ignite officials had attributed delay in rollout of an electricity theft management solution system funded by Ignite to indifference of the then ministers of IT and Finance.

This is factually incorrect, and no such accusation was made by either ministry officials or those of Ignite.

Whereas "Electrocure", an R&D initiative of UET Peshawar researchers funded by Ignite, has the capability to address electricity line losses and theft in the country, Ignite’s role is limited to funding such research.

Neither the ministry nor Ignite have the mandate to scale out its deployment, which is the prerogative of the researchers developing the solution.

Therefore, non-interest of the Ministry or previous ministers of IT and Telecom or Finance in its rollout across electricity distribution network does not even arise.

Rather, it was pointed out during the meeting that the Public Private Partnership Authority of the government, which would need to play a role in setting up a financing mechanism for the rollout by the researchers in collaboration with foreign investors, has not yet had a board meeting to treat such future possibilities and arrangements.

We appreciate the attention and recognition given to Ministry of IT and Ignite activities by honorable Senators and media; Ignite will continue to fund meaningful R&D activities capable of addressing important national challenges through the use of deep technology.