MIRPUR(AJK): Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq has said that the negotiations with the Awami Action Committee would be held within the ambit of law and constitution.
Speaking to the media in the federal metropolis on Sunday, the PM, while referring to the government’s austerity drive, said that besides curtailment of expenditures, the government took a number of initiatives, including improving the quality of infrastructure, the standard of education, and healthcare facilities in the state.
The Prime Minister said that the expenses of the PM House have been reduced to a large extent. “Similarly, discretionary posts were abolished, road infrastructure was improved, flour and timber were eliminated, and 11 billion rupees of the development budget were spent transparently”, the PM said, adding that 22 new ambulances were added to the health sector fleet.
The PM said that he had pleaded and presented the case of his people effectively at every forum. He said that the issues related to Mangala Dam and the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project would also be resolved. He said that an endowment fund worth Rs. 5 billion has been established, out of which financial assistance would be provided to widows, orphans, divorced women, and the disabled.
The PM said that he was enjoying the full support of the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan. “God willing, we will resolve all the problems”, he said. In response to a question, the PM said that he has been able to run an unnatural alliance successfully. He said that after the removal of the constitutional bar on cabinet size, the portfolios to ministers would be assigned soon”.
In response to a question, the PM, while condemning Israel’s naked aggression against Palestinians, said that Israel can’t suppress Palestinians legitimate struggle. He said that India must take a leaf out of history and prove that it cannot break the will of Kashmiri people by using its military might. PM Haq also termed the former prime minister of Pakistan, Mr. Nawaz Sharif’s, homecoming as a positive development.