Daily Times

Amidst controversies and heated debates over what is being rightly or wrongly termed as government’s incompetence, some encouraging figures have come to the fore that spell some hope as, according to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), a total of 127 construction projects have been registered valuing Rs.63 billion during the last month while 108 more persons were also in the process of registering 114 projects costing Rs109 billion.

It just can’t be called happenstance. Something was already in the air. The Prime Minister has been talking from day one about providing shelter to the shelter-less but, given hisfirst financial wizard’s inability to speedily tackle the economic troubles, mass despair had spread all over the country. As such, several segments of our population had started disbelieving the official statistics.

During my own participation in different TV programmes, I had been laying stress on the common man’s predicament which, unfortunately, is continuing unabated due to a number of factors including the continuity of Covid-19 pandemic. And whenever the government spokesmen would state that economic indicators were going positive, showing an upward surge, I would counter these claims with a commonplace rhetoric:” Whatever these luring economic indicators, why are we ignoring the biggest indicators of them all, I mean, the miseries being faced by the commoners?”

Now, this news about the housing initiative undertaken on PM’s instructions, appears to bring some relief in the lives of the downtrodden class, albeit in a very small percentage. I am, however, of the opinion that we should not go by percentages. The yardstick, instead, ought to be based on the soft underbelliesmeaning thereby the areas where deprivations are at their peak, requiring of the state to interfere benevolently. Examples: food security, shelter, healthcare, transport and education.

It is an uphill task which is being handled with a comprehensive strategy that involves collaboration of the private sector as well which is being given a reasonable incentives package

Prudent people usually say that in any economic model of the contemporary world, it is very rarely possible for the state to provide every citizen with sufficient monetary means to cater to all his- or his family’s- basic needs in the aforementioned areas. The only workable alternative left for the state is to create an environment where people, especially those from the lowest strata, are able to get food for their survival besides getting timely medical treatment, shelter, transport and education within the affordable range.

The state is more or less equipped, most of the time, with the means to provide such basic necessities to the low-income groups, at least gradually.

If Prime Minister Imran Khan is thinking on this pattern, then his government may, sooner or later, be able to alleviate the decades’ old sufferings of the people living below poverty line.

The launch of pro-poor housing facilities under the “Naya Pakistan” banner inspires optimism provided the momentum sustains with the same zeal with which the Prime Minister is reported to have initiated this ambitious project after arriving at the conclusion that the revival of construction industry despite Covid-19 pandemic will not only ease the difficulties of homeless people but also ensure the flow of income to millions of daily wagers and ordinary workers from about 40 allied industries.

It is an uphill task which is being handled with a comprehensive strategy that involves collaboration of the private sector as well which is being given a reasonable incentives package. The government has also engaged with the banking sector and motivated it with the help of a workable strategy to extend easy, speedy loans to the homeless people, leaving aside their consideration of huge profits but none of the parties would be left grumbling in any manner asthe commercial banks have been asked to allocate five per cent of their lending portfolio for the construction industry that would make over Rs 300 billion. The government will also provide Rs 130 billion subsidy to the poor, deserving people in order to complete the construction of 100,000 housing units in the first phase (the country needs 400,000 units a year).

Although this number is too small a number in comparison with the housing units pledged in the ruling party’s election manifesto nevertheless a sizeable number of people have heaved a sigh of relief that some kind of practical measures have been initiated, at last, to resolve their problems, starting from the housing sector which is being looked after properly by Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) and Naya Pakistan Housing Development Authority (NPHDA) which are pursuing joint ventures on private land in addition togovernment to government programmes on government land.

While the government has revived various impeded projects including Green Enclave-I BharaKahu project (of December 2019) to allot 3,282 plots to the applicants, it has allotted 5,198 plots under Sky Garden project after its revival in July 2020 and allotted 3,240 plots under Lifestyle Residency Apartments G-13 scheme.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated Kashmir Avenue G-13 Islamabad scheme to build 1,467 apartments; 3,432 apartments are being built under Chaklala Heights Rawalpindi scheme, 3,945 apartments under SkyLine Apartments Islamabad scheme and 1258 under Lifestyle Residency Lahore scheme.

The federal government also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with provincial governments under government to government housing schemes’ projects targeting 798 apartments in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 16,000 apartments for fishermen, 18,000 apartments and 12,000 plots for general people in Balochistanand 750 apartments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Among these projects, as many as 61 would be developed in Karachi, Lahore 44, Islamabad 30, Rawalpindi 19, Faisalabad 10 and rest in other cities.

Now that the government seems to have girded up its loins to bring some degree of relief directly in the lives of ordinary citizens without boasting of huge, high-tech economic indicators, it is now being demanded by the representatives of millions of farmers that the government should provide reasonable incentives to the farmers like good farm-to-market roads, subsidized electricity and fertilizers which should be free from adulteration. High quality seeds (or hybrid seeds) should also be provided to the farmers at affordable prices so as to bolster the national economy whose success hinges primarily on its biggest natural base i.e agriculture.

The writer is a senior journalist and TV analyst