Muzaffarabad(PID, AJK)\u00a0Finance Minister\u00a0 government of Azad Kashmir\u00a0Abdul Majeed Khan has said that\u00a0despite difficult circumstances\u00a0government presented a balanced and people-friendly budget\u00a0that\u00a0will prove to be a milestone towards improvement.\u00a0Khan\u00a0expressed these views while addressing a post-budget press conference along with Member Assembly Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq Nayyar\u00a0here on Sunday.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Additional Chief Secretary Development Dr. Sajid Mehmood Chauhan, Secretary Finance Ismatullah Shah and Secretary Information and IT Ms. Midhat Shehzad were also present on the occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking on the occasion the finance minister lauded the efforts of\u00a0Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary Development, Secretary Finance and his team\u00a0for presenting the best budget.\u00a0Now that the budget has been presented in the Assembly, Khan said that it was incumbent on the opposition\u00a0to\u00a0play its\u00a0due\u00a0role\u00a0in the House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government will provide Rs 100 million for the earthquake victims in Afghanistan and will try to reach out to the Afghan brothers as per the policy of the government of Pakistan\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the salient features of the budget, he said, \u201cAnnual grant of Press Foundation has been increased from Rs 3.3 million to Rs 5 million\u00a0whereas\u00a0Rs. 85 million has been allocated for advertisements in the current financial year while Rs. 100 million has been allocated\u00a0for\u00a0the next financial year\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regarding the\u00a0reduction of\u00a0power losses\u00a0in transmission lines,\u00a0he said\u00a0that the government was going to set up\u00a0a private company\u00a0(DISCO) to tackle this issue effectively.Keeping in view the sensitivities of Kashmir movement, he said, in order to make Kashmir Liberation Cell more active the government has chalked out a comprehensive plan to further Kashmir cause effectively.\u00a0He said that the\u00a0Rescue 1122 service\u00a0has been\u00a0launched\u00a0in Tehsil headquarters adjacent to\u00a0LOC.\u00a0\u201cIn addition, Bomb Disposal Squad Units and Bike Ambulance Service are being set up in the Sub-Divisions located on the LOC\u201d, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTourism and Archaeology Secretariat has been set up for the promotion of tourism\u201d, he added. Moreover, the finance minister said that the directorate\u00a0of EMIS\u00a0has been established\u00a0for monitoring and obtaining data of biometric devices installed in educational institutions.\u00a0He said that Rs. 418.494 million has been provided to the victims of disaster relief in the current financial year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Rs. 500 million has been proposed for the procurement of medicines and equipment and repair of ambulances in the health sector in the current financial year and an increase of Rs. 700 million has been proposed in the financial year 2022-23\u201d, he said adding that\u00a0Rs 100 million has been allocated for the prevention of\u00a0Corona\u00a0epidemic.He said that a\u00a0subsidy of Rs. 280 million\u00a0was given by the government to\u00a0provide cheap flour to the people during\u00a0the Holy month of\u00a0Ramadan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To improve law and order situation and countering\u00a0the threat of terrorism,\u00a0he said, \u201cCounter Terrorism Department has been set up\u00a0in AJK\u00a0and the required posts and funds have been provided to the department\u00a0to counter terrorism effectively\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said that additional District and Sessions Judge Court in Abbaspour, Additional District and Sessions Judge \/ Additional District Criminal Court in Samahni District Bhimber and Additional District Qazi Abbaspour Court have been set up\u00a0to\u00a0ensure delivery of justice to the people\u00a0at their doorstep.\u00a0\u201cDwarian\u00a0and\u00a0Shunter projects have been taken over by the government of Pakistan\u201d, Khan said adding that\u00a0work on Makri Water Treatment Plant was underway while a plan of Rs. 35 crore for sewerage has been included in the budget.\u00a0He said that funds have\u00a0also\u00a0been earmarked for AIIMS Hospital Muzaffarabad, Cardiac Hospital and Tandali Hospital in the budget.\u00a0He said that in addition to water usage charges other issues were being discussed with the central government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0finance minister Abdul Majeed Khan said that\u00a0government of Azad Kashmir has also\u00a0proposed to increase salaries and pensions of employees\u00a0in line with\u00a0the package announced by the government of Pakistan. The federal government, he said, has assured\u00a0to provide the required funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To ensure\u00a0transparency in the taxation system,\u00a0Khan said that\u00a0an agreement\u00a0was being signed between the\u00a0AJK\u00a0Government and the State Bank of Pakistan and 1-Link to implement an automated and online tax payment system.\u00a0The Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he said,\u00a0has earned a profit of Rs 458 million in the year 2021-22, besides deposits of Rs 19.2 billion and\u00a0the Bank\u2019s\u00a0assets\u00a0have increased to\u00a025.30 billion\u00a0 rupees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover,\u00a0the process has been started for Private Equity, which will\u00a0 prove to\u00a0be a milestone in\u00a0achieving the\u00a0status of a scheduled bank\u201d, he maintained.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Praising\u00a0CBR\u00a0for working\u00a0diligently in the financial year 2021-22\u00a0 to\u00a0meet its revenue target, he said that the revenue target for\u00a0the\u00a0CBR for the next year has been increased by Rs. 5 billion to Rs. 36.500 billion.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0revenue\u00a0targets\u00a0of other departments has also been increased by Rs 4 billion\u201d, the minister added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Muzaffarabad(PID, AJK)\u00a0Finance Minister\u00a0 government of Azad Kashmir\u00a0Abdul Majeed Khan has said that\u00a0despite difficult circumstances\u00a0government presented a balanced and people-friendly budget\u00a0that\u00a0will prove to be a milestone towards improvement.\u00a0Khan\u00a0expressed these views while addressing a post-budget press conference along with Member Assembly Chaudhry Muhammad Rafiq Nayyar\u00a0here on Sunday.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n
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