LAHORE:Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif presided over the 99th meeting of the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency (PHATA) governing body, where a surplus budget of Rs 34.73 billion for the current financial year was approved.
The meeting highlighted significant initiatives aimed at enhancing housing accessibility and operational efficiency within PHATA. During the meeting, the Chief Minister directed PHATA to develop a plan for completing housing projects through private partnerships. She also announced the approval of the “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” program, aimed at providing affordable housing.
It was reported in the briefing that 544,000 individuals have registered on the program’s portal, with 280,000 applications received for housing construction and over 76,000 draft applications submitted.
The governing body authorized PHATA to sign contracts and instructed timely verification of applicants’ documents. Additionally, it approved the upgrading of data entry operators’ scales and the recruitment of civil sub-engineers under the PHATA Services Regulation 2004.
A key decision was made to condition budget approvals on the governing body’s authorization, rather than requiring cabinet approval. The meeting also permitted refunds to applicants from previous housing schemes who were not selected in the lottery.
PHATA was authorized to conduct staff hiring for the Project Management Unit (PMU) through a job portal and was instructed to review pending housing schemes on a case-by-case basis.
During the meeting, revenue was projected at Rs 17 billion, while expenditures were estimated at Rs 13.55 billion.
Senator Pervez Rashid, Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb, Minister for Information and Culture Azma Zahid Bukhari, MPA Sania Ashiq, Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, and housing officials were present.
