Daily Times

Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister (PM) Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq has announced to execute indiscriminate accountability all across the state soon.

Addressing the members of the District Bar Association Mirpur and Mirpur Protection Forum at the Jammu and Kashmir House in the federal metropolis late Monday the PM said that across-the-board accountability would be ensured and no one would be exempted from accountability.

Referring to the ongoing AJK-wide heated issue of the inflated electricity bills, the PM said, “Since the government has decided to suspend all additional charges on electricity, the billing will be made on the old tariff rates”.

The PM said that no penalty or additional surcharges would be slapped on consumers.

Referring to his government’s efforts to improve governance in the state, he said that people of good repute and brilliant track records were being inducted into the bureaucracy.

Referring to the challenges faced by the public, the PM said, “I do realize and understand the problems, but the fact is that the wrongs of the past several decades cannot be rectified in moments.” He said that many promises were made in the past but never fulfilled.

He said that he held the judiciary with the highest esteem. “The decisions of the judiciary will be fully implemented”, he said.

The prime minister said that there was a written agreement on Mangla Dam and it was made in 2003, and approved by the cabinet. “We should not live in isolation. If our demands are legitimate, they will be fulfilled,” the AJK PM asserted.

He said that before the passage of the 13th amendment, the Kashmir Council had the authority to levy tariffs on electricity.

The PM said the authority to levy tariffs was then transferred to the AJK government. ” In 2022, the notification, which authorized the DG commercials to increase tariffs, was suspended”, he added. He said that the tariff issue has been taken up with the Government of Pakistan. “The issue was discussed threadbare and the federal government endorsed our stance on the issue.”

He said that an increase in petrol levies also has a direct effect on Azad Kashmir. According to the Mangla Dam up-raising Amended Agreement, the PM said that the AJK government would receive one rupee and ten paisa water usage charges per unit. The PM said that after hectic file work, he realized that the things that could have been fixed earlier can no longer be fixed now.

He said that Rathoa Haryam, Mirpur Water Supply Scheme, sewage, and other outstanding issues should have been settled under the 2003 agreement. He said that in the 2003 agreement, there was a mention of dam-affected families but there was no mention of sub-families in the agreement.

“When the MDHA was created, the committee was responsible for solving all these issues”, he said. There will be important work on Rathoa Hariyam which will be completed soon, progress will be made soon, and work will also be done to solve the problem of sub-families.

Appreciating the civil society, lawyers, and the trader’s community for highlighting the issues of public concern, the PM said, “You have fought a peaceful struggle, which has given me the opportunity to discuss all those issues at the highest level”.

“The awareness wave that has taken place in Azad Kashmir regarding rights is good but the real task is to utilize it to the best interests of the state and its people”, the PM said, adding that he had also apprised the national security agencies about these issues.