The Punjab government is ready to launch the ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme’ (NPHS) in three more districts, i.e., Lodhran, Okara, and Bahawalnagar.
The government will start inviting applications from the aforementioned districts for the low-cost housing scheme by next month. Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed, the Provincial Minister for Housing, told the media that they have completed the groundwork for the launch of this program in three districts.
“The government is going to call applications by advertising in the press and the allotment process will start in February,” said the minister.
Earlier, the federal government had announced its plans to introduce the NPHS in Kasur, Jhelum, Lahore, Sialkot, Multan, Layyah, Rahim Yar Khan, Gujranwala, and Vehari by January.
However, following the massive number of applications for the scheme, the government decided to extend the date of the simultaneous launch of the project in the aforementioned districts.
Rasheed told the media that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) had received a whopping 80,000 applications from Faisalabad alone.
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Therefore, the government stopped the allotment process there to take care of the pending applications first. The government will resume the allotment process once the applications are scrutinized, by March 2019.
The minister further pointed out that the demand for the housing units was immense from all over Punjab. “The government has held the project to avoid undue criticism as it will call application from those districts only where groundwork has been completed,” he said.
“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is committed to fulfilling its promise to provide living facilities to the low-income strata of society. However, it will take some time.”
The minister also told that the housing program will be executed via a public-private partnership. The government will also play the role of a regulator and facilitator in the project. Moreover, it will provide the land while the private sector will take care of the construction from its own resources.
