Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Siraj-ul-Haq has urged the federal government to fix share of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) in National Finance Commission (NFC) Award to remove sense of deprivation among the people of the regions.
Addressing a press conference along with JI Azad Kashmir Amir Abdul Rasheed Turabi and JI G-B Amir Maulana Abdul Sami here on Monday, Haq said that both the regions have no share in NFC and it was needed to fix their share in national resources as both the regions are playing leading role in defense of the country.
He said that by bringing them economically and socially at par with rest of the country will have positive impact on national economy as it will reduce urban migration activities as every year hundreds of thousand people from northern areas come to earn their livelihood in central parts.
He said that people of AJ&K have serious reservations over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as no part of the region is included under the project. He said that the JI was not satisfied with the G-B share in the project as it has the capacity to produce 41,000 Megawatts (MWs) of hydel electricity but other than roads no significant projects is being executed in the region.
JI has recently held a number of political activities in AJ&K wherein the people have expressed serious concerns over the exclusion of Azad Kashmir from the CPEC and there is a dire need to create a special economic zone in Kashmir which will help generate not only job opportunities for the locals but will help decline their sense of deprivation, Haq said.
AJ&K has the proven potential to produce 22,000 MWs of hydel power and in future the government must focus on building of hydel based power projects as this will not only produce power but also increase water reservoir capacity of the country. He urged the government to exempt the regions from all kind of federal taxes; however added that the government must bring revolutionary changes in local bodies so that they can generate their own funds for the development of their areas.
Sirajul Haq said that the people of Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan have the feeling that their areas had been totally left out in the CPEC which was unjust. He demanded that these areas be also included in the CPEC with the consultation of the local people. He said the enemy had its eyes on the CPEC and the government should not give any cause to the people of any area to protest. He demanded the withdrawal of the taxes levied in these areas and setting up of economic zones and an international airport at Gilgit to attract tourist.