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Anusha Rahman
Pakistani politician (born 1968) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Anusha Rahman (Urdu: انوشہ رحمان; born 1 June 1968) is a Pakistani politician affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League (N). She served as the Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from April to May 2018. Prior to this, she held the position of Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication from June 2013 to July 2017 during the third ministry of Nawaz Sharif, and again from August 2017 to April 2018 under Abbasi’s administration. Rahman was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to May 2018. In the 2024 Pakistani Senate election, she was elected to a seat reserved for women.[1]
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Early life and education
Rahman was born on 1 June 1968[2] into a family involved in politics. In 1992, she graduated with an LL.B. and received an LL.M. from University College London, specializing in law and economics of regulated industries, networks, and markets. [3][4]
Professional career
In the early 1990s, Rahman began her career in law, specializing in corporate legal practice. She has stated that she has been involved with the telecommunications sector since that time.[citation needed]
Political career
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Anusha began her political career in 2006 or 2007, when she became senior vice president of the lawyers' wing of PML-N. She took part in the lawyers’ movement for the restoration of the judiciary following the Pakistani state of emergency in 2007. She was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time in the 2008 Pakistani general election on a reserved seat for women.[5] She was a member of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice during her tenure in the National Assembly. In 2009, Rahman was a member of Pakistani party PML-N's steering committee, which was responsible for dealing with legal matters.
She was re-elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan for the second time in the 2013 Pakistani general election on a reserved seat for women.[6][7][8][9] In 2013, Rahman was appointed as the Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication.[10][11][12]
She ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017, when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after the Panama Papers case decision.[13] Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2017, she was then inducted into the federal cabinet of Mr. Abbasi.[14][15] She was appointed as the Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication.[16][17]
In April 2018, she was promoted to be the federal minister[18] and was appointed as Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.[19] Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on May 31, 2018, Rahman ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication.[20]
In the 2024 Senate elections in Pakistan, Anusha, backed by PMLN, secured victory in the seats designated for women, accumulating 125 votes.[21]
Key contributions and achievements
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During her tenure as Minister of State and later Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Rahman oversaw the development of the Telecom Sector Policy 2015, which was intended to address emerging trends in the telecommunications industry.[22] The policy received the Government Leadership Award in 2017 from the GSMA for its role in shaping Pakistan’s telecom framework.[23] Rahman also supported the government’s e-Governance program, aimed at digitizing certain administrative functions to improve transparency and service delivery. Rahman also supported the government’s e-Governance program, aimed at digitizing certain administrative functions to improve transparency and service delivery.[24] According to official figures, exports of information technology and IT-enabled services increased during this period, although independent assessments of these figures vary.[25]
In 2015, Rahman was among the recipients of the GEM-TECH Global Achievers Award, presented by UN Women and the International Telecommunication Union, recognizing initiatives to promote gender equality in technology.[26]
Mobile Broadband
In 2014, Pakistan auctioned spectrum for 3G and 4G services in the 850 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz bands, which marked a significant expansion in mobile broadband services in the country.[27] Following this, mobile broadband penetration in Pakistan increased from less than 3% in 2013 to over 40% by 2018, according to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority data. In recognition of these efforts, Pakistan received the Spectrum for Mobile Broadband Award at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in 2015.[28]
ICTs for Girls Program (Neutral Rewrite)
In December 2015, Rahman announced the “ICTs for Girls” initiative, designed to improve digital literacy among women and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.[29] The program included providing access to ICT facilities and training on basic digital skills. According to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, the initiative was developed in partnership with Microsoft to offer training modules in computing and coding. However, independent reporting on the program’s scale and long-term impact is limited.[30]
National Incubation Center and DigiSkills (Neutral Rewrite)
Rahman was involved in launching Pakistan’s first National Incubation Center (NIC) in 2016 as a public–private partnership between the Ministry of Information Technology, Ignite (National ICT R&D Fund), and Teamup.[31] The NIC provided workspace, training, and mentorship to technology startups and was later expanded to other cities. Independent evaluations of the program’s effectiveness have not been widely published.
In February 2018, Rahman introduced the DigiSkills program, an online initiative aimed at training individuals in freelancing and digital work.[32] The program’s official reports stated that its goal was to train one million individuals; however, third-party verification of these figures is not readily available.
Later, on 15 February 2019, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) appointed Anusha Rahman Khan as the regional advisor to the secretary-general and the CTO for the East and South Asia region.[33]
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References
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