KARACHI, Jan 5: The Adviser on Local Government, Waseem Akhtar, has directed that widows and handicapped people should be granted lease in katchi abadis on reduced rate as per law.

He issued these directives while chairing a meeting held to consider the city government's failure in granting proprietary rights to residents in 275 katchi abadis.

It may be mentioned that during the last three months, lease camps were set up in only nine towns instead of 18 towns, while katchi abadis were present in 14 towns. However, people there were running around the offices of city government and lease camps because of the slow process.

The Director Katchi Abadis, city government, Razia Sultana, informed the meeting that people were being granted proprietary rights in cooperation with UC nazims. "People in these katchi abadis were being granted lease at a rate of Rs25 per sq-yard for houses of 120 sq-yards," she said.

The adviser said that it was the endeavour of the present government to provide housing and maximum basic facilities of water, gas, and electricity to people. He called for expediting the lease process with transparency so that poor people faced no inconvenience. He cautioned that no slackness in this regard would be tolerated.

He said that people should be induced through banners and advertisements to approach the lease camps. Mr Akhtar took strict notice and issued directives that proprietary rights be given only in respect of land reserved for katchi abadis.

He especially directed the Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority to accelerate the pace of regularization in Scheme-33, Pahalwan Goth and Gulistan-i-Jauhar. The meeting was also attended by Additional Chief Secretary Local Government Mohammed Saleem Khan, DCO Karachi Fazlur Rehman, EDO Revenue Mohammed Waseem, Director Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority Manzar Abbas and others. - APP