LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a video-link meeting about the construction of low-cost houses for the underprivileged strata.

SACM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, chief secretary, chairman P&D and secretary housing attended the meeting while secretaries of Finance and Information departments as well as NLC and FWO representatives participated from the civil secretariat. The BOP president also attended the meeting through video-link.

Addressing the meeting, the CM said 133 sites have been identified for the prime minister’s affordable housing scheme. About 54 locations have been chosen for the first phase and work will be started on a priority basis at 32 sites, he added. PM Imran Khan will launch this project, simultaneously, at 10 sites in Raiwind. The Punjab government has provided three billion rupees for the development work and the house size has been increased from 3 marlas to 3.5 marlas, he mentioned.

The CM said a house will be given at Rs 14,30000 lac while the applicant will contribute Rs 143,000 and the rest of the amount will be given by Punjab Bank. The monthly instalment will be around 10 thousand rupees and houses will be handed over to successful applicants in one year, he added. The CM said work is in progress on this project in Sargodha while the scheme is being started in 10 tehsils including Chiniot, Lahore, DG Khan, Khushab, Mianwali, Sargodha and Khanewal. The provision of the roof to low-income families was a commitment of the PTI and those who could not afford a house of their own because of meagre resources will soon be the owner of their houses. The construction of affordable houses for the poverty-stricken genera is the flagship programme of the government, he concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021