Nawaz Sharif, CM Punjab Inaugurate 'Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar'

LAHORE: Pakistan’s first-of-its-kind housing initiative for the homeless, ‘Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar’, was formally launched. President PML-N Muhammad Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the said programme and conducted first digital ballot at the request of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif as she was also present at the ceremony.

President PML-N Nawaz Sharif officially launched the said scheme through a digital touch system and initiated digital balloting process.

After the draw, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz personally telephoned Attock resident Rukhsana Bibi to congratulate her on winning a plot.

Later, Quaid PML-N Nawaz Sharif also spoke to her by phone and extended congratulations to her on receiving a free plot through balloting. Rukhsana Bibi offered prayers and expressed gratitude to both leaders.

Chief Minister Punjab also telephoned Mero Mai from Mandi Yazman, Bahawalpur who had also won a plot and congratulated her and her husband Ramesh Lal.

They felt overjoyed after talking with Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Quaid PML-N Nawaz Sharif. Ramesh Lal said, “You are our greatest national leader.” Speaking at the event, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz thanked Quaid PML-N Nawaz Sharif for attending the ceremony and launching this project.

She congratulated all citizens who won three-marla plots and announced that recipients would be eligible to obtain Rs 1.5 million loan to build their homes, repayable over nine years at an easy monthly installment of Rs 14,000.

She said the Punjab government is fulfilling all its promises instead of relying on empty slogans.

Provincial Housing Minister Bilal Yasin provided a detailed briefing on the project.

He briefed that 2000 applicants had secured residential plots across 23 housing schemes in 19 districts of Punjab comprising 730 in Jhelum, 388 in Kasur, 257 in Faisalabad and 219 in Lodhran.

Additional allocations in the first phase included 130 in Okara, 55 in Layyah, 52 in Bhakkar, 33 in Sahiwal and 25 in Sargodha. Other districts receiving plots included 24 in Khushab, 20 in Bahawalnagar, 17 in Mandi Bahauddin, 15 in Rajanpur, 11 in Attock, 8 in Gujrat, 7 in Bahawalpur, 4 in Jhang, 4 in Vehari and 2 in Chiniot.

Bilal Yasin further briefed that a foolproof and transparent mechanism had been adopted for the said programme. More than 483,000 people were registered for ‘Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar’ project and more than 257,000 applications were received for Phase One.

He added that following NADRA’s verification and scrutiny by district committees, 18,308 applicants were declared eligible for balloting.

Provincial Housing Minister apprised that more than 1.8 million people used ‘Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar’ mobile app, while 970,000 people were registered. Under this initiative, 118,000 individuals already received housing loans worth Rs. 145 billion.
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