Islamabad, (Parliament Times) : Prime Minister Azad Kashmir Ch. Anwarul Haq has said that his government has completely eradicated corruption and mafias from Azad Kashmir. “Timber mafia, cigarette mafia, and food mafia are now a thing of the past”, PM Haq said during his interview on a TV channel.
He said that the governance system was now back on track. He said that good governance was directly linked to enforcement of law and accountability. He said that equal application of law to all was key to sustainable development and progress.
He said that implementation of law and accountability has to start at the top level and trickle down throughout the rest of society. PM Haq said that being prime minister of the state he had presented himself for accountability. “When I took the oath, the governance structure of the state was in shambles”, he said, adding that the state was on the brink of disaster due to poor governance and corruption. He said that the key appointments including the appointment of the Chairman of the Accountability Bureau, and chairman of the Public Service Commission were made on merit. He said that several initiatives were taken to improve education and the health care system. He said that the government’s austerity drive has been instrumental in reducing expenditure.
He said that the illegal use of government vehicles has been completely banned.
” About 400 surplus vehicles were auctioned”, he said, adding that no one is allowed to use government vehicles except for official work. Prime Minister Haq said that he also tries not to use the government vehicle after two o’clock. Referring to his government’s austerity drive, he said this was for the first time that the budget for Prime Minister’s Secretariat would be reduced by 51% by June 30. He said that since 1985 supplementary grants were released to meet the expenditures of the PM Secretariat.
He said that a special social protection program would be launched in Azad Kashmir soon under which widows, divorcees, homeless, orphans, and disabled persons would get financial assistance. Prime Minister Haq praised the Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir’s vision and approach, which he said, had led to the redressal of the issues faced by the AJK government.” Efforts were made to discuss all the problems of Azad Kashmir, which no one used to talk about in the past”, he said the issue of Kashmir Council was also resolved and property worth billions were handed over to the AJK government.
He said that an endowment fund worth ten billion rupees would be established under which neglected and poor sections of the society would get relief monthly regularly. He said that the main focus of his government was on the socioeconomic development of the state. He said that road infrastructure was being improved and new roads were being constructed all across the state. He said that tourism in Azad Kashmir was linked to the improvement of roads. He said that 25 crore rupees were being provided to each constituency. He said that reforms were also introduced in health and other sectors to improve the overall performance of departments.