ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs has taken strong exception of the absence of Minister for Kashmir Affairs from the committee.
The meeting presided over by Professor Sajid Mir reviewed working procedures of the Ministry of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in detail.
The chairman of the committee expressed his displeasure over the absence of the federal minister from the committee.
The chairman of the committee said that the committee has also expressed its displeasure over the non-serious behaviour of the senior officials of the ministry in its meeting held on February 28 over efforts being made to advance the date of the Standing Committee.
The officials of the ministry had also shown non-seriousness with regard to the committee visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Upon which, the secretary of the ministry said that he has assumed the charge a few days ago and whatever was happened before him he would like to apologise for it and assured the committee that such things would not happen again.
The secretary informed the committee that the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan is a very small ministry with five departments working under it. The total budget of the ministry is Rs1,388.77 million and the ministry does not have any development project for itself in the PSDP of this year.
The committee was further informed that the main function of the ministry is to formulate policy and planning for Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The funds for GB are provided by the federal government in the form of grants and PSDP projects are also being funded by the federal government.
The committee was told that Gilgit-Baltistan has no source of income of its own, there are no taxes in Gilgit-Baltistan and even today wheat is provided at Rs20 per kg.
The purpose of Gilgit-Baltistan Council and Azad Kashmir Council is to increase the connections between the federation and the two regions, the committee was told while adding that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan demand Rs240 billion from the NFC.
The meeting of the committee was informed in detail about the functions of Azad Kashmir Council and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Senator Nadeem Bhutto said that there is a lot of income from the tourism sector in the world. Pakistan is rich in natural landscapes and an effective strategy is needed and the committee must hold a separate session for discussion how to improve tourism.
The chairman of the committee said that India has been spending a lot to continue its illegal occupation and oppression in Occupied Kashmir and this is being seen by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said that Pakistan should also allocate more funds in budget for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir with the objective to provide them as much relief as possible. Otherwise, they would begin comparing AJK and GB with Indian-occupied Kashmir.
The committee was informed that Gilgit-Baltistan also has vast opportunities in minerals including tourism.
The standing committee was told that the ministry’s role in Gilgit-Baltistan is only of cooperation. The committee was further told that all the members of AJK Council have been elected if some of these members are invited to the committee meeting, the problems of their areas will be highlighted effectively.
The Standing Committee decided to review the provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan’s development budget separately as the members wanted to know as to how much was requested by the GB and how much as allocated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024