Islamabad, Sep 4: The Federal Secretary of IT and Telecommunications is to be appointed by a private sector professional for the first time in Pakistani history. Through an open market procedure, Zarrar Hasham Khan, a former senior executive at Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), was chosen for the position.
The Establishment Division posted an advertisement for the post, and Khan’s appointment signifies a major change in the way the federal government handles important appointments.
Zarrar Hasham Khan, Azfar Manzoor, and Usman Mubeen were the three applicants that made the Selection Board’s shortlist after interviews conducted under the direction of Federal Minister Ahad Cheema.
At the top of the list, Zarrar Hasham Khan was appointed to the Special Professional Pay Scale One (SPSS-1), meaning that his monthly compensation will range from Rs. 1.5 to Rs. 2 million. With agreement from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Establishment Division officially verified his appointment through a notification.
With the nomination of Zarrar Hasham Khan, the IT and telecom industry has experienced a historic first: an expert from the private sector is now leading the ministry. This appointment is in line with current trends, as the Secretary of Law and Justice also has experience in the private sector, indicating a wider tendency toward the use of industry knowledge in government positions.
In his new position, Zarrar Hasham Khan has more than twenty years of telecom and technological experience. After graduating from the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute, Khan went on to study at the University of Warwick’s MBA program, Harvard Business School, Oxford University, and London Business School.
Throughout his career, he has held executive positions at several significant telecom firms, most notably Saudi Telecom Company (STC) in Kuwait, where he oversaw one of the world’s biggest 5G deployments in 2019 while serving as Chief Technology Officer.
