AJK seeks boost in funds from Centre

AJK PM highlighted need for an increase in budget grant, which had remained stagnant for the past five years.

ISLAMABAD:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq on Saturday asked the Centre to increase the region’s grant keeping in view its sensitive environment.

Last month, the territory witnessed deadly clashes on the call of a people’s action committee. Spearheaded by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, several people had died in the clashes and many others were injured, shaking the entire region.

The action committee had demanded the provision of electricity as per the hydropower generation cost in AJK, subsidised wheat flour and an end to the “luxuries” of the elite class.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Prime Shehbaz Sharif ordered the immediate release of Rs23 billion to resolve the problems faced by the residents of AJK.

As the AJK government is in the middle of preparing its annual budget, PM Haq met with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Saturday and discussed the upcoming budget as well as the development projects in the region.

“The AJK prime minister expressed his gratitude to the government of Pakistan for its unwavering support, emphasising the administration’s commitment to ensuring good governance and the welfare of the people,” read a news statement issued after the meeting.

However, it added that the AJK PM highlighted the need for an increase in the budget grant, which had remained stagnant for the past five years.

The AJK premier emphasised that a boost in funding was essential to meet the targets of annual development projects, particularly in light of the current political and security landscape.

Sanaullah, who holds the portfolio of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), assured the AJK PM that the proposal to increase the budget grant would be given due consideration.

He reaffirmed the government’s dedication to utilising all available resources to drive economic development and social prosperity in AJK.

Sanaullah also pledged to provide necessary support to alleviate the difficulties faced by the people of AJK, underscoring the federal government’s unwavering commitment to the region’s.