Steps taken to ensure good governance: AJK PM

Haq says he had to face different challenges after assuming charge of office

MIRPUR/AJK:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq has said that the present government has taken several initiatives to ensure good governance and the rule of the law in the region.

Talking to media in the federal metropolis on Sunday, the AJK premier, while referring to the different challenges he had to face after assuming charge of office, said, "I took charge of the government under difficult circumstances".

He said that the cigarette mafia, timber mafia, and food mafia were roaming freely in the state. The AJK prime minister said that he rid the state of this mafia as soon as he took over the government and at the same time decided to carry out social reforms in the state.

The AJK PM said the reformation process commenced from the prime Minister's Secretariat. He said along with the abolition of protocol, expenses of the PM's Secretariat were reduced to a larger extent.

The incumbent government, he said, spent Rs26 billion during the six months but not a single penny of corruption was committed during this time.

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He said that the Kashmiris had decided to align their fate with the state of Pakistan months before Pakistan came into being. He said that the Kashmiris, who have rendered immense sacrifices for Pakistan, do not need anyone's certificate.

He said that there were some public demands for which people resorted to protests. To fulfill the demands of the Action Committee, the AJK PM said that a panel consisting of four federal ministers has been formed, which is headed by the defence minister.

Replying to a query regarding the Indian supreme court's verdict on the abrogation of Article 370, the AJK premier said that the Prime Minister of Pakistan during his address to the Legislative Assembly of Azad Kashmir adopted a firm stand on the issue.

He said "We have to respond to India's machinations in a befitting manner", adding that the government along with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference would promote and project the Kashmir cause effectively at the international level.