MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore on Saturday said his government would return to power with greater strength, citing public support and its performance.

He was speaking at a ceremony in Union Council Kharik on the outskirts of Mirpur, where he inaugurated the Greater Water Supply Scheme, constructed at a cost of Rs235.2 million.

The project is expected to provide clean drinking water connections to around 19,000 households.

The prime minister said the government was committed to public welfare and development, adding that efforts were underway to address long-standing issues faced by communities. He also announced the establishment of a dispensary in Kharik.

Referring to development works in the area, he appreciated the role of local leadership in improving infrastructure, particularly road networks, and expressed the government’s resolve to continue development initiatives.

Mr Rathore said the sacrifices of Mirpur’s residents, particularly overseas Kashmiris, would not be forgotten, and assured that the longstanding issue of property rights would be resolved during the current government’s tenure.

He also paid tributes to former AJK president Barrister Sultan Mahmood, saying he had effectively highlighted the Kashmir issue at national and international levels, and his historic services would always be remembered.

Minister for Physical Planning and Housing (PPH) Chaudhry Yasir Sultan and government adviser Sardar Fahad Yaqoob also addressed the ceremony.

Later, the prime minister visited the Kashmir Institute of Cardiology (KIC) at the Divisional Headquarters Hospital in Mirpur, where he was briefed by Medical Superintendent Dr Ijaz Ahmed Raja.

Expressing satisfaction over the hospital’s performance, he announced Rs20 million for strengthening emergency services and said a proposal to upgrade the KIC to a full-fledged hospital would be presented to the cabinet.

He also approved an increase in the institute’s annual budget from Rs6 million to Rs60 million and directed the provision of modern facilities, including bypass and stent procedures, to make the cath lab fully functional.

The prime minister ordered expansion of the emergency ward at the DHQ hospital from 12 to 24 beds in view of the increasing patient load and directed construction of a boundary wall to improve security.

He assured that the KIC would be upgraded into a modern cardiac care centre on the pattern of the Muzaffarabad cardiac hospital to provide quality treatment facilities within the region.

The prime minister also paid tribute to the late Haji Muhammad Saleem — a noted social and business figure of Mirpur — for funding the construction of the KIC building from his own resources as a gift to the people of the area.

Among his other engagements, PM Rathore attended a review meeting of the development projects in Mirpur division.

He also laid the foundation stone of the Divisional Commissioner’s Office building in Mirpur, to be constructed at a cost of Rs100.35 million, and separately, inaugurated the PWD Complex in the town, built at a cost of Rs117.44 million under the PPH Department.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2026