Maryam Nawaz opens fresh applications for Punjab housing scheme
A Lahore review meeting reported 128,718 completed houses and over 1.7 million portal registrations, and cleared a new round of applications for Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved a new round of applications for the Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar housing scheme, after a review meeting in Lahore was told that more than 1.7 million people have registered on the programme's portal.
The meeting was briefed that 128,718 houses have been completed and that 62,600 more are nearing completion, Business Recorder reported. More than 225,000 loans have been disbursed under the scheme, and 171,597 beneficiaries have received the second instalment for construction work.
Officials told the meeting that instalments totalling Rs22.29 billion have been recovered, a recovery rate of 97.6 percent. Business Recorder reported that the programme has also drawn recognition from international institutions, without naming them.
The chief minister directed the departments concerned to meet the scheme's completion targets on time. Minute Mirror reported that the meeting reviewed the project's performance and discussed its future expansion, and that the fresh application phase is meant to let more eligible people in Punjab benefit.
Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar provides financial assistance and housing loans to eligible residents to build their own homes, Minute Mirror reported.
Business Recorder reported that the application process has closed for a second programme, Apni Chhat, Mehfooz Chhat. Under that scheme, 3,055 applicants have received loans worth Rs1.216 billion, and construction or expansion work has been completed on 532 houses.
Minute Mirror also carried the Rs1.216 billion loans figure in its account of the briefing, without linking it to the Mehfooz Chhat scheme.
The chief minister's approval clears the way for a further intake of applicants, though no date for opening the new window was given in either report.
How the reports differ
Business Recorder led with the public response to the scheme and reported the 225,000-plus loans disbursed figure, which Minute Mirror did not carry. Business Recorder tied the Rs1.216 billion in loans and the 3,055 borrowers to the separate Apni Chhat, Mehfooz Chhat scheme and its 532 houses, while Minute Mirror gave the same amount as loans received by applicants in the general briefing without naming that scheme. Business Recorder also reported recognition from unnamed international institutions; Minute Mirror led instead with the chief minister's approval of a new application phase, which Business Recorder mentioned further down.
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