Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq announced that subisdies for wheat and electricity have been notified in response to protests in AJK on Monday.

“No sensible person can disagree with the demand for cheap wheat and cheap electricity,” Haq said.

The PM said that notifications regarding subsidy in both electricity and wheat have already been issued. He held out copies of the notifications for the cameras.

Haq announced that people consuming up to 100 units will be charged Rs3/unit, 100 to 300 units will be charged Rs5 per unit, and people using more than 500 units will be charged Rs6 per unit.

He said that the price of wheat has been decreased from Rs3,100 per 40kg to Rs2,000 per kg.

Haq said that the subsidies were not temporary relief measures but would be permanent.

The PM said that Awami Action Committee’s protest had been successful and credit should be given where due.

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He said that he had taken the demands to Pakistan’s Senate himself in the past.

Haq said that Zardari had even offered to divert funds from Sindh to resolve the issue. He said that PM Shehbaz Sharif also called him personally to express solidarity.

The PM said that elected governments understand the nature of people’s sentiments. He said that there is no disagreement with peaceful protests

He said that the police had not used force against the protests and had even suffered losses including the death of a sub-inspector. He added that police had not even been provided firearms to quell the protests.

Haq’s press conference came after PM Shehbaz ordered ‘immediate’ release of Rs23 billion in funds for subisdies in AJK.