Daily Times

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan said that besides utilizing the state’s massive potential in tourism, hydel and other sectors, mega development projects would be launched to provide jobs to unemployed youth in the region.

The AJK PM said this while talking to different delegations that called him here on Tuesday.

“State-of-the-art projects will be launched, which besides ushering the region into an era of prosperity will be instrumental in providing employment to the people,” the PM said.

He added that the AJK government would leave no stone unturned to meet the expectations of its people. The government, he said, would exploit the region’s huge potential in tourism, hydel and other sectors to generate resources. He said that town planning in all the three divisions of AJK would be carried out on modern lines.

“Steps will be taken to manage cities and towns properly,” the PM said, adding that initially, instructions have been issued to the concerned departments regarding town planning. The people, he said, must cooperate with the institutions for the betterment and quality of life of their future generations.

Stressing the need for forest conservation the prime minister said deforestation should be stopped forthwith. Safari parks will be set up to make the forests attractive for tourists, he added.

He said IT parks would be set up in major cities of AJK and software exports will be started soon.

The PM said: “By establishing IT parks youth will become part of the global e-industry.”

State’s economy could be strengthened through mechanized farming and modern livestock, he added.

The prime minister said that important steps would be taken for the promotion of quality education.

Meanwhile, spokesperson to Prime Minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir DrIrfan Ashraf said that the AJK government would soon host an international media conference to expose the brutalities unleashed upon Kashmiris by the Indian forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). He expressed these views while addressing a press conference along with Hurriyat leader Uzair Ghazali at Press Information Department (PID) Media Hall in the state metropolis.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ashraf said that besides bringing all stakeholders together the media conferences would provide a platform to researchers particularly the media persons to share their expertise on the subject.

While underlining the incumbent government’s priorities, he said, “Liberation of IIOJ&K is the first and foremost priority of the government”. Shedding light on various initiatives the AJK government has taken so far on Kashmir, the spokesperson said, “Soon after taking oath of the office, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan called for a state-wide protest against the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to IIOJ&K”. He said that Kashmiris on both sides of the line of control observed the day as a black day and protests were staged all across the AJK on the PM’s instructions.

“The Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas led a protest demonstration in front of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad,” he said.

DrAshraf said that a protest demonstration was organized in Germany on the Indian premier’s recent visit. “Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan himself mobilized the Kashmiri community in Germany”. The prime minister, he said, spent Eid-ul-Fitr with Kashmiri refugees to express solidarity with them.

The PM also visited the LoC to pay tribute to the sacrifices rendered by the Armed Forces of Pakistan,” he said, adding that the purpose of celebrating Eid with the Armed Forces of Pakistan was to send a message to the brave armed forces on the LoC that the Kashmiri nation stands by them. He praised the armed forces for their unprecedented role in safeguarding the country’s sovereignty.