13,400 Cholistanis to get plots in first phase

BAHAWALPUR: As much as 236,000 acres of land spread over three districts of Bahawalpur division will be distributed among 13,400 permanent Cholistan residents in the first phase of the land allotment programme.

This was announced by Cholistan Development Authority Chairman Malik Iqbal Channar on Sunday.

He was speaking at a meeting to review the land allotment programme.

He said under the scheme 12.5 acre plots of land would be allotted to peasant households possessing less than six acres of land each. The scheme was a part of the provincial government’s mission to empower Cholistani people.

Channar, also the provincial minister for cooperatives, said the beneficiaries had been selected after thorough scrutiny undertaken in collaboration with the National Database and Regulatory Authority (NADRA) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). This was done to ensure transparency, he said.

Of the 236,000 acres to be distributed in the first phase, 187,000 acres is in Bahawalpur district, 88,400 acres is Bahawalnagar district and 3,800 acres in Rahim Yar Khan district.

Channar said the arrangements had been finalised and a ceremony would soon be arranged for distribution of allotment letters among the beneficiaries.

The meeting was also attended by Bahawalpur Division Commissioner Saqib Zafar, Parliamentary Secretary for Irrigation Khalid Mahmood Jajja, CDA Director Mian Imam Bukhsh and Bahawalpur Assistant Commissioner Rao Tasleem Akhter.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2016.