MUZAFFARABAD:Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayoom Niazi Friday said that a development package of Rs 500 billion under the five year plan had been approved for the region by the federal government and Prime Minister Imran Khan will soon announce this at Muzaffarabad.
Addressing a press conference at his official residence here, he said that the package will cover hydro power projects, tourism, infrastructure, health education and other sectors and will transform the region as a most developed part of the country within five year tenure of his government.
He acknowledged the commitment of Prime Minister Imran Khan with Kashmir and said Imran Khan had bravely raised the issue of Kashmir at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) besides presenting a dossier by foreign minister in UNGA portraying the true picture of the inside happening in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).
While counting the priorities of his government, he said transparency and accountability would be at the top besides improving governance, development of road infrastructure, promotion of tourism, vocational and technical education for overcoming on unemployment issue and provision of health, education services and basic amenities to the masses.
He said a three-phase strategy for the development and transformation of the region had been evolved comprising short term projects, midterm projects and long term projects time duration of these would be six month, 2 years and five years and expressed the confidence that change will be witnessed at the completion of his five year term.
He said past government had revoked the accountability law leaving everybody in the helm affairs as unaccountable but his government had constituted a ministerial committee to propose a legislation for accountability and the law would soon be enacted besides reviewing the other wrong doings of the previous government including regularization of contractual and ad-hoc employees through a legislation in hassle and approving discriminatory road project in the eleventh hour of their tenure.
He said all the committees will present their reports and suggestion within six months excluding the committee tasked to propose local bodies’ election format which will present its report within a month and he was committed to hold the local bodies’ election soon after a thirty years of gap in the region.
He said that previous government at the 11th hour had regularized more than 4,000 employees recruited on the basis of nepotism and approved more than 7000 kilometres road projects of their interest on the basis of surveys only and all this would be reviewed by his government.
He said his government had launched cleanliness and anti encroachment drive throughout the AJK which he said was moving forward successfully with the cooperation of the masses and will also launch another against corruption and misappropriation in public funds indiscriminately against all including government official and elected leaders.
Paying tribute to late Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Gilani for his heroic struggle of liberation, the Prime Minister said his services will be acknowledged by naming some highway and a University chair on his name.