Transfer of power to grass root level best way to serve the masses: AJK President

MIRPUR (AJK): , Jul 28 (APP): Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry has said that transfer of power to grassroots level was the best way to resolve the problems being faced by the common people.

In a,statement issued here on Thursday, the AJK president said that it was high time that the people should choose those people as their representatives in the local government elections who have a better understanding and ability to solve their problems.

Holding local bodies elections in AJK State, he said, has been one of his priorities. He said that the municipal elections were going to be held before October 15 in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court of AJK. Regarding the 15th amendment, the president said that in-depth consultations between the leaders of all political parties of Azad Kashmir were required to discuss pros and cons of the proposed fifteenth amendment.

The interim constitution of Azad Kashmir, he said, was also adopted after the mutual consultations between representatives of all the political parties of the region.

“Being president of the state, I am ready to play my role in this regard”, the president said.Regarding the role of Kashmir Council (KC), he said that the KC’s main function was to create a liaison between the governments of Pakistan and AJK.
The president said that he was not in favor of giving financial powers to the council.

“In the past, the council had badly misused its powers”, he said, adding that the Ministers of Kashmir Affairs who were appointed in the past have not only misused the authority but also deprived the people of AJK of their legitimate resources.

He said that certain central ministers have been recruiting employees hailing from federal areas in AJK, which he said was illegal and against the basic law of the land. app/ahr