Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday launched the provincial government’s Apna Chhat Apna Ghar (our roof, our house) housing scheme, less than a week after her government announced plans for an electricity subsidy in Punjab that has roiled coalition allies.
During a ceremony, the chief minister said that owners of 1-5 marlas of land in urban areas and 1-10 marlas in rural areas would receive interest-free loans of Rs1.5m from the Punjab Government to build houses. “For the first three months, landowners will not pay one paisa,” the chief minister said.
“There’s no place like home,” CM Maryam said. “Those who have their own home, their own roof, they don’t understand what it is like to be homeless.”
The chief minister outlined the structure of the loan, which would be paid back over a period of seven years. “There is no need to pay for the first three months,” the CM said, adding, “Those who take the loans will have to pay a maximum monthly instalment of Rs14,000.
“I have kept the instalments at Rs14,000 because people need to establish a monthly budget, pay children’s fees and utility bills and buy food and medicine,” she said. CM Maryam also referred to the reduced electricity bills for consumers using between 200 and 500 units per month for the months of August and September.
On Friday, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif announced a Rs14-per-unit reduction on consumer bills for consumers who use between 200 and 500 units per month for August and September. The move, limited to Punjab, led to discontent from the PPP-led Sindh government, an ally of the PML-N government in the Centre.
More to follow.
