Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday announced a series of development and welfare initiatives for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), including green buses, mobile hospitals, scholarships and laptops, as she addressed a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) election rally in Muzaffarabad.
Addressing supporters at the University Ground, Maryam Nawaz said the PML-N's politics revolved around development, education and public service, adding that the party wanted to see young Kashmiris holding laptops instead of sticks.
She said that if elected to power in AJK, the PML-N would replicate Punjab's development model through modern transport, healthcare, education and welfare programmes.
"I have not come to Muzaffarabad as a guest; this is my own home," she told the gathering, adding that the relationship between Pakistan and Kashmir was based on an enduring bond.
Without naming any rival party, Maryam criticised her political opponents, saying some leaders only visited Azad Kashmir to deliver speeches and make allegations instead of presenting solutions to people's problems.
She also vowed to carry forward the vision of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, saying the PML-N would fulfil every promise it made to the people.
Key announcements
Maryam Nawaz announced the following initiatives for Azad Kashmir if the PML-N forms the government:
- 10 green buses for Muzaffarabad to improve public transport.
- 15 mobile hospitals to deliver healthcare services in remote areas.
- Expansion of Punjab's "Apni Chhat Apna Ghar" affordable housing programme to AJK.
- 2,000 scholarships for outstanding students.
- Distribution of 5,000 laptops to students to promote digital learning and higher education.
- Launch of a "Suthra Jammu and Kashmir" cleanliness campaign on the pattern of Punjab's sanitation programme.
- A proposal to the federal government to provide interest-free business loans for AJK youth.
- Himmat Cards for persons with disabilities to strengthen social welfare support.
Maryam Nawaz said education, skills and technology—not unrest—were the key to national progress, stressing that young people should be provided with opportunities to contribute to the country's development.
Appealing to voters ahead of the elections, she urged the people of Azad Kashmir to support the PML-N, promising improved healthcare, education, infrastructure and public services across the region.
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