MANSEHRA: Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed on Monday said his government would allot plots in Mansehra to Kashmiris settled in the district.

“We’ve already acquired land for allotment to Kashmiris settled in Mansehra. The allotment of plots will begin soon,” he told reporters at the New Circuit House here. Besides others, divisional president of Pakistan People’s Party Shuja Salim Khan was also present on the occasion.

The AJK prime minister said Kashmiris stood by the people of Nepal in the current hard times caused by a devastating earthquake.

“We know how diffi cult this time will be for the people of Nepal. We, too, faced such circumstances in 2005 when an earthquake destroyed many parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

Majeed said his government had been focusing on the promotion of higher education in the region considering it the basis for progress.

“We have opened three universities and dozens of colleges in Azad Jammu and Kashmir as we know education is crucial for the development and prosperity of our people,” he said.

The AJK prime minister said PTI had won by-election in a constituency of the region but it didn’t mean that it was popular with the people there.

“PTI has to go a long way to get popularity in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The one, who won the by-election, was elected as a lawmaker on PPP ticket many times in the past,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Shuja Salim Khan said PPP had fi elded candidates across Hazara for the coming local body elections. He said his party would form district and tehsil governments in Mansehra with the support of allies after winning elections.

The PPP leader said the people of the province had rejected the PTI’s ‘politics of change.’

NOMINATIONS REJECTED: The returning offi cers in Mansehra have rejected nomination papers of 383 male and female candidates for the coming local body elections.

The candidates had fi led nominations for district and tehsil wards and village and neighbourhood councils.

“The returning offi cers have rejected 383 nomination papers of men and women wanting to take part in the coming local government elections,” district election commissioner Mohammad Zulfi qar Jadoon told reporters here on Monday.

He said the people, whose nomination papers were rejected, could move to the local court for appeal before April 28.

Jadoon said 398 nomination papers were accepted and 24 rejected for 59 district wards, while 447 were accepted and 35 rejected for 59 tehsil wards.

He said for 194 village and neighborhood councils of the district, nomination papers of 2,461 candidates were accepted for general seats, while 144 were rejected.

The district election commissioner said nomination papers of 511 contenders were accepted for seats reserved for women and 40 were rejected, while 952 nomination papers were accepted for seats reserved for peasants and 52 were rejected.

He said 866 nomination papers were accepted for seats reserved for youths, while 88 were rejected.

“All five nomination papers for seats reserved for minorities were accepted,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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