MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): In a groundbreaking move, the Azad Kashmir government has approved the release of Rs 7.98 billion in funds for multiple departments under the Annual Development Program (ADB) of Fiscal Year 2025-26.
Despite the ongoing political uncertainty in Azad Kashmir, the AJK Cabinet sanctioned and disbursed historic development funds for the first half of the current FY.
The official notification issued in this regard stated that the Government of Pakistan has released an amount of Rs 9.62 billion against AJ&K Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the first half of FY26.
In addition, the Finance Department of the AJK government has provided Rs3 billion for the execution of development activities under the ADP 2025-26. Accordingly, a total amount of Rs 12.61 billion was available for development initiatives, it added.
Out of this, Rs 7.98 billion have so far been released to the line departments, leaving a balance of Rs 4.61 billion.
As per the direction of the competent authority, an amount of Rs 3.72 billion is proposed to be released to these sectors for the clearance of outstanding liabilities on ongoing projects.
Among the departments, the highest amount, with Rs 5.70 billion released, was released to the Department of Communications and Works; in addition, Rs 2.46 billion is to be released shortly.
Moreover, Rs 940 million were released for the Education Department, Rs 322 million for the Health Department, Rs 500 million for Local Government and Rural Development, and Rs 290 million for the Electricity Department.
Rs 25 million were received by the Irrigation Department, while Rs 94 million was designated for Governance, Law, and Justice projects.
The AJK government has instructed all the concerned departments to ensure the utilization of funds in transparent, timely, and effective manners to ensure the completion of projects within the scheduled timeframes.
