AJK cabinet decides not to present budget if central govt does not reverse its decision to impose cuts on region’s development budget

MUZAFFARABAD, June 12 (SABAH): A Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Illays Khan on Sunday decided not to present the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 if the central government does not reverse its decision to impose cuts on the region’s development budget.

The meeting was attended by Ali Shan Soni, Zafar Iqbal Malik, Chaudhry Yasir Sultan, Advisor for Endowments and Religious Affairs Hafiz Hamid Raza, Special Assistant for Information Technology Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Parliamentary Secretaries Ms. Taqdis Gilani, Ms. Imtiaz Naseem, Mohammad Mazhar Saeed, Ch. Rafiq Nayar, Ch. Maqbool and others. Whereas the meeting was especially attended by the Acting President and Speaker Assembly Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq. A cabinet committee was formed to take on board all the stakeholders within and outside the assembly. Media committees were also formed to raise the issue effectively.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister AJK Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan regrettably noted that the central government was imposing cuts on budgets of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Both the regions, he said, were governed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). “Azad Kashmir is the base camp of Kashmir’s liberation struggle and in view of its great importance especially in terms of defense the region cannot afford budgetary cuts”, he said. The PM, however, maintained that the central government would be informed about the region’s sensitive nature and situation arising out of budget cuts.

Acting President AJK Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq said that budgetary cuts would have a negative impact on the region, while the ministers present on the occasion said that Kashmiris have already made sacrifices for Pakistan. “If Pakistan is still in need of our sacrifices then the federal government should stop the entire budget”, they said.

During the meeting, it was decided to raise voice in unison on the issue of budget cuts. A committee headed by Mir Akbar Khan has been assigned the task to hold dialogue with opposition parties on the matter. The members of the committee included Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, Dewan Ali Khan Chughtai, Chaudhry Muhammad Rashid, Ali Shan Soni, Chaudhry Maqbool, Chaudhry Arshad Hussain, Azhar Sadiq, Hafiz Hamid Raza, Pir Mazhar Saeed, Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq and Malik Zafar.

During the meeting a social media committee headed by Ms Taqdis Gilani and media committee headed by Finance Minister Majid Khan have also been constituted. The media committee members included Sardar Fahim Rabbani, Rafiq Nayyar, Dewan Chughtai, Chaudhry Rashid Nisar Ansar Abdali and Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal.