MUZAFFARABAD, March 20: The federal government has offered Azad Kashmir to take over and develop the population welfare department on the pattern of the provinces and the centre would meet the department's financial requirements in shape of grant in aid for the next 15 years.
This was stated by AJK Health Minister Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan at a news briefing here on Saturday. Population Welfare Secretary Dr Bashirur Rehman Kant, Population Welfare director Dr Mohammad Hanif, deputy director Dr Naeem Mir and other officials were also present on the occasion.
The population welfare programme, the minister said, had been initiated in AJK in 1995 and since then it was being run under a PC-I with the financial assistance of the federal government and some international donor agencies. However, in view of the federal government's offer as well as usefulness and importance of the programme, AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat had announced that he would bring it on the normal budget of Azad Kashmir from June 2004 as a permanent department, he said.
The minister said unfortunately a great deal of misconception prevailed among the public about the population welfare programme which ought to be removed jointly by the government agencies and the media.
In fact, the aims and objectives of this programme were to create awareness among the public about reproductive health services with a view to improving their economic conditions and living standards, he pointed out.
Earlier, briefing the newsmen, secretary population welfare Dr Bashirur Rehman Kant said that Pakistan being the 6th most populous country of the world had the highest fertility rate whereas the maternal mortality and infant mortality rates here were also alarming.
By lowering fertility rate through prevention of early age marriages and ensuring birth spacing, the maternal and infant mortality rates would subsequently scale down, he said.
Answering a question, he said that 117 posts, including the post of director in grade 19, had been created in the department in the past one year and were distributed in all the seven districts of Azad Kashmir.
He said two mobile service units had also been brought into operation in district Muzaffarabad and district Kotli with the cooperation of United Nations Population Welfare Fund (UNFPA) during last year.
Dr Kant said that the AJK population welfare department's PC-I for the next five years, costing Rs 303 million, had been approved by the Ecnec whereas the projects of other provinces were still under process.
He added that 154 more posts would be created in next three months whereas another 96 would be created later under the PC-I.
He said hospital equipment worth Rs three million would also be purchased for the reproductive health services centre (RHSC) in Kotli.