July 25, 2002	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14,1423

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FAISALABAD, July 24: Work to award ownership to 2,706 allottees of Ghulam Muhammadabad, awaiting rights for the last 53 years, is in full swing on the orders of the Punjab governor.

Reports said the camp office set up at the General Hospital had received over 400 applications on Wednesday.

The history of the problem coincides with the partition as almost all the beneficiaries of these 2,706 plots are from among the refugees who were earlier living in kutcha abadis like Maidi Jhuggi, Khanuana, Khalsa College etc. The refugees were allotted plots in D & D extension blocks of the Ghulam Muhammadabad Colony in 1959. However, they were denied the proprietary rights due to their inability to complete required formalities and lack of officials’ interest.

Meanwhile, the announcement by the governor has been widely acclaimed as it has brought a ray of hope to those refugees whose third generation has been born in Pakistan.

Abdur Rahman, an allottee who migrated from Jhal, Ludhiana, said the government had resolved their long-standing demand and offered them a great relief.

Muneer Ahmad, who migrated from Hoshyarpur, praised the decision of not charging commercial rates from those who had installed small machines in their plots.

Talking to Dawn, district Nazim Chaudhry Zahid Nazeer said the issue had been lingering on for decades because of the indifference of the Urban Rehabilitation Office (URO) and the housing department. The government had brought a sigh of relief to the immigrants, he said.