Rs 4.2m drawn for PM's upcoming foreign tour

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider is all set to proceed to some European countries for almost two weeks later this week “to highlight Kashmir issue and interact with the Kashmiri diaspora,” according to an official notification circulated on Monday.

The notification states that the 3-member delegation led by Prime Minister Haider would visit United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Spain and Italy from October 6 to October 18 (including journey days).

“The delegation shall visit London to meet with Kashmiri Community. Later on the Prime Minister will move to France to participate in Kashmir Conference on the invitation of Ms Binet Stephanie from 7 to 8 October. Thereafter, the PM will participate in the events of ‘2017 Kashmir-EU Week’ from 9 to 10 October at Brussels (Belgium) under arrangement of Kashmir Council-EU. The PM will also visit Spain and Italy to interact with Kashmiri Community from 13 to 16 October,” reads the shoddily drafted notification.
The notification was silent about Ms Biter - the inviter in France.

The delegation includes senior minister Chaudhry Tariq Farooq and additional principal staff officer to PM Raja Arshad Hussain.

“Expenditures on the tour will be incurred against the budgetary head ‘Foreign Tour’ of PM Secretariat and will be regulated as per financial concurrence of the Finance Department,” added the notification.

However, there was no mention of the sanctioned amount in the notification, in a departure from the practice adopted by previous governments.

Sources in the PM secretariat told this scribe on condition of anonymity that the current year’s budget had an allocation of Rs 2.5 million for PM’s foreign tours.

However, as the expenses of the upcoming tour were estimated at Rs 4.2 million, the amount had been withdrawn in advance from (the funds of) Jammu Kashmir Liberation Cell (JKLC), after obtaining a formal concurrence from the Finance Department, sources said.

The prime minister happens to be the chairman of JKLC – an institution raised in late eighties to “highlight Kashmir issue at national and international level.” It meets its expenditures from what is called ‘Kashmir Cess,’ levied on all salaries drawn and payments (of contracts) made from the AJK exchequer, as well as on sale of properties.

Most of the expenses on foreign tours of government functionaries, in the name of projecting Kashmir cause, are secretly drawn from JKLC.

In 2016-17, the funds earmarked for foreign tours of AJK president and prime minister were Rs 2.5 million each. However, while the PM spent Rs 3.5 million the president splashed out Rs 3.9 million during the previous fiscal year.

But apart from these funds, the president had expended an additional Rs 1.55 million from the JKLC funds on his foreign tours in 2016-17, sources said.

In the first three months of the current fiscal year, the president has so far claimed Rs 4.1 million from JKLC funds for his foreign tours, while the premier has just drawn Rs 4.2 million for his upcoming visit, sources added.

Interestingly, the senior minister has only recently returned to the seat of government after a month long leave for a personal foreign tour to UK and some other foreign countries.

When this scribe asked him over telephone what had necessitated another tour to the same countries at official expense, he maintained that since he had been engaged with the Kashmir Council-EU for a long time, he was invited by the organization to attend its event in Brussels.

“However, I am yet to decide whether I will proceed or not,” the senior minister said.

In the absence of the prime minister, the senior minister functions as acting premier and AJK is abuzz with reports that both do not enjoy “very cordial relations” for quite some time.

Interestingly, as some people shared the notification on social media on Monday, there was a torrent of comments criticizing “wasteful” spending of taxpayers’ money on “junkets” on the pattern of previous PPP government. 

“I wish #AJKPM remembered his own views as opposition leader about wasteful expenses on foreign junkets in the name of #Kashmir,” tweeted Naeem Wani, a social media activist.

It may be recalled that in his previous 9-months stint as AJK premier, Mr Haider had not undertaken any foreign tour.

Instead, he was often heard criticize such tours that he then maintained only burdened the exchequer of the cash strapped region.

This scribe made several attempts to contact prime minister’s press secretary Raja Wasim for his reaction, but his all three cellular numbers were found switched off. 

Tariq Naqash