Officials term G-B Order 2018 a step towards better governance

The Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 is a step towards better governance in GB province with Legislative Assembly members are now being named as members of province assembly after the implementation of the order from Monday.
This was stated by officials of GB during an informal discussion with members of National Assembly ahead of the meeting of National Assembly's Standing Committee on Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday. Civil and military officials briefed the committee on health services in Azad Kashmir and GB as well as on Northern Areas Transport Section.
The meeting chaired by Malik Ibrar Ahmed was briefed by Additional Secretary Ministry of Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan on implementation of the decisions of the previous meeting. The chairman further directed to continue the work on these projects and its implementations report may also be submitted to the secretariat for record purposes.
The secretaries (Health & Services), government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Government of Gilgit-Baltistan also briefed the committee about their role, progress and challenges ahead particularly availability of meager funds. The chairman directed the secretary Ministry of Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan to consider the recommendations made by them and see the possibility of increasing their funds to meet the requirement.
The managing director Northern Areas Transport Corporation (NATCO) also briefed the committee about the salient feature of the services rendered by NATCO with its future plans. He also highlighted the difficulties like over-staffing, old buses and trucks and difficult terrain having bumpy roads.
However, they are determined to face the challenges and continue to provide standard services to the people of these hard areas. The chairman appreciated their services and said that NATCO is a national strategic asset which has a long history of progress and development.
The meeting was attended by the Major Tahir Iqbal(retd), Khalil George, Sardar Mumtaz Khan, Dr Shazia Sobia, Shamas-un-Nissa and Junaid Akbar, MNAs, and senior officers of the Ministry of KA&GB, government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and government of Gilgit-Baltistan.