Oman hails Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar scheme

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday met Oman's Minister of Housing and Urban Planning Dr Khalfan bin Said bin Mubarak Al Shueili in Muscat, who described Punjab's interest-free Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar a better model than his country's Oman's loan programme.

The minister congratulated the CM on Punjab receiving the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award.

He expressed keen interest in the province's low-cost housing initiative.

The leaders discussed urban planning and development, with the chief minister briefing the Omani delegation on the scheme and responding to their queries. She also outlined details of other initiatives, including Apna Khet, Apna Rozgar; Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar and Apni Chhat, Mehfooz Chhat.

CM Maryam Nawaz said more than 200,000 people had been provided loans to build homes in 18 months,.

She said Rs260 billion in interest-free loans had been disbursed under the programme and recovery of instalments had begun. More than 125,000 families have moved into their homes.

"Merit and transparency are the hallmarks of Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar. No recommendation is required to obtain an interest-free loan," she said.

The chief minister said she wanted to build one million houses under the programme but economic constraints remained a challenge.

"We will, however, achieve the target of building 500,000 houses for low-income people in five years," she said.

She said the programme's loan recovery rate had exceeded 99 per cent, largely because of the affordable monthly instalment of Rs14,000. The Punjab Socio-Economic Registry had enabled the government to compile comprehensive data from across the province and determine housing needs on the basis of the data, she added. "Every house built under Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar has a heart-touching story," she said.