Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR [AJK], (Parliament Times) : A regular master plan has been kicked off for the speedy promotion and uplift of the tourism industry in Azad Jammu Kashmir.
Our Special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reports from Mirpur that this was disclosed by AJK Housing and Planning minister Yasir Sultan Ch. while inaugurating 05-day Spring Festival at Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah International Sports Stadium here on Thursday.
He said that the Spring Festival will open new vistas for promotion of the tourism industry in Azad Jammu Kashmir coupled with the ancient Kashmiri cultural heritage in the scenic AJK– which is enriched with huge natural potential for the promotion of tourism besides a conducive environment for the purpose..
Besides Div. Commissioner Shoukat Chaudhry, DC Ch. Amjad Iqbal, SSP Raja Irfan Saleem, ADC – G Yasir Rias, AC Sardar Abdul Qadir, officials of various nation-building institutions including the AJK Tourism Department, District Information Officer Javed Malik and other officials of the state tourism and information department and district administration were also present on this occasion to highlight the salient features of the scheduled festival.
Speaking on this occasion, AJK minister Yasir Sultan said that the grand Spring gala across AJK will provide the environment of healthy entertainment and recreation to the tourists including children and the families from all over AJK besides various parts of the country with prime focus to encourage and promote the local tourism.
He said that the festival will be free of cost for all visitors, would attract the tourists from across the country and abroad side by side to make the young generation acquainted of the centuries old cultural heritage of the Himalayan state of Jammu & Kashmir.
Horse n cattle show, trade exhibition of home made products including the Kashmiri handicrafts, cultural show depicting the Kashmiri folk songs, besides the national songs, book festival, exhibition of the pictures depicting the Indian brutalities and human rights violations by the occupying forces in occupied Kashmir, marathon race, mystic poetry, boating, cricket and football matches besides the local supports, will be the hall mark of the grand Spring festival, to be continued till March 20, he underlined.
Yasir Sultan revealed that the AJK government was acting upon an integrated plan through launching various projects for the uplift of tourism in the area.
The holding of the scheduled Spring/Summer Tourism grand festival would prove to be the step forward for the speedy promotion of tourism in this scenic part of AJK located on the bank of the picturesque Mangla dam lake, he added.
Sultan underlined that an integrated tourism uplift plan involve the construction and renovation of the state-run rest houses meant for tourists at various scenic places including tourists hub in the liberated territory.
Yasir Sultan further said that the state government has started rapid implementation of the master plan in order to attract maximum local and foreign investment in the tourism sector in the liberated territory where most conducive atmosphere coupled with huge natural resources and scenic terrain was available for the purpose.
He said that the government has already decided in principal to give tourism the status of industry to utilize the huge available natural resources for the speedy development and uplift of the tourism sector – besides to overcome the unemployment through creation of massive job opportunities in the tourism – for which bright potential was already available in the area.
The AJK PID Mirpur Divisional Chief Javed Malik told APP on this occasion, that the grand spring festival would open new vistas of socio economic development and prosperity in Azad Jammu Kashmir through the promotion of tourism industry under private-public sector projects in this sector.
It will also benefit for opening avenues of employment for the jobless educated and other skilled and non-skilled youth, he added.