Senate panel discusses development budget of AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan was informed that every year Azad Jammu and Kashmir spends 30 percent of its budget on health and education while 40 percent of its budget is spent on development projects.

The committee met with Professor Sajid Mir in the chair at Parliament Lodges on Friday.

The meeting discussed development budget of AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the meeting of the Standing Committee, a briefing was given regarding the development works in AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan during the last five years and the future proposals for coming budget.

The AJK chief secretary told the committee that the Human Development Index of AJK is 0.78, while the overall Human Development Index of Pakistan is 0.699. He said that apart from this, there is not even a single case of polio in AJK. He further informed that AJK had collected Rs54 billion in tax last year and this year the target is Rs75 billion. He said that the crime rate in AJK is the lowest in Pakistan.

He said that for the current year, AJK has allocated Rs24.160 billion for development works and Rs13.6151 billion for social works and Rs6.225 billion for products.

The Standing Committee was also informed that during the last five years Rs111,576.121 million was spent under the annual development program while the project cost under PSDP was Rs7,495.70 million during the last five years.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024