Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz reviewing secuirty arrangements ahead of Muharram. SCREENGRAB
LAHORE:
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has decided to launch the “Apna Ghar, Mehfooz Ghar” programme under the existing “Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar” initiative to make homes across the province safer and prevent tragedies like the recent Kahna roof collapse.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by the chief minister, where it was agreed to expand the scope of the housing programme.
Under the proposed initiative, interest-free loans of Rs500,000 will be provided for the renovation and strengthening of houses with weak roofs or dilapidated structures. Interest-free loans of Rs1 million will also be offered in instalments for constructing an additional storey.
The participants were informed that interest-free loans had been approved for more than 180,000 homeless families under the Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar programme and disbursed to 170,000 of them. An amount of Rs217.8 billion has been released for the programme and around 27,500 houses are in the final stages of completion.
Officials said 134,343 houses had been completed across Punjab under the programme, while more than 1.278 million applications had been received from homeless families.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered that the second instalment under the Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar programme be released within three days.
The officials stated that 2,000 plots had been distributed in 23 districts under the Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar programme. A report on rehabilitation and development work in the areas was also presented.
The chief minister ordered that the process for obtaining housing loans be made easier. She said the 2,000 homeless families that had received free plots from the government would also be provided loans for construction.
She said the Punjab government would assist families in making unsafe, weak and dilapidated houses secure and better.
CM Maryam Nawaz said the housing initiatives were flagship projects of the Punjab government and negligence in them would not be tolerated.
She said there should be no changes in the eligibility criteria or procedures for obtaining housing loans.
Lawmaking
Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan called on Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and both leaders agreed to promote the proceedings of the legislature through mutual coordination.
They also discussed legislative matters relating to prison reforms.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed the speaker to ensure the participation of both treasury and opposition members in the legislative process.
Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan congratulated the chief minister on the balloting held for an initiative for landless farmers.
The chief minister described the Apna Khet, Apna Rozgar scheme as the achievement of the entire team and said the Punjab government was introducing new public welfare projects every day. She said the scheme had provided land and livelihood opportunities to 30,000 families.
She said the government’s focus was now on underdeveloped areas, where electric buses and modern agricultural machinery was being brought.
