ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court wants parliament to adopt a unanimous bill on low cost housing for the shelterless people in the country.
“Prepared by the federal government, a draft bill on inexpensive and low cost housing shall be placed before the parliament in a short time frame for which a tentative budget should also be allocated by all governments,” said an order issued by a two-judge apex court bench, consisting of Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
The court had taken up a petition moved by Advocate Abid Hassan Minto and his son Bilal Minto. The petitioners had expressed concerns over the mode and manner employed by the CDA to evict the residents of Sector I-11 katchi abadi on July 30, 2015.
Two-judge bench says draft bill shall be placed before parliament; tentative budget to be allocated by federal, provincial govts
In a policy recommendation on katchi abadis and the rehabilitation of its inhabitants, the housing ministry, in collaboration with the four provinces, the CDA and the private sector stakeholders, had assured the court on Jan 13 that no eviction of slum dwellers would be carried out in future until its residents were relocated.
It had also promised that the formation of new katchi abadis and informal settlements would be discouraged by exercising strict development controls in all urban areas.
The direction for adopting the law came when Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman acknowledged that there was no law to provide low cost homes for the poor. But floating such a bill may take at least a year.
The court, however, observed that it was constituting a commission which should include experts on management of katchi abadis such as Tasneem A. Siddiqui, who worked for 15 years for the cause of katchi abadis in Sindh.
The commission shall come out with a comprehensive policy on low cost housing within two months. The expenses of the commission should be borne through a common fund by the federal as well as the provincial governments.
The recommendations of the commission will help making the law, the court said, warning that in case no progress report was submitted on time, it would take serious action against the delinquents.
“We know that official experts will make an attempt to delay the law; therefore, we have ordered setting up of the commission,” it said.
When Mr Minto said he had no hope to see the petition materialised in his lifetime, the court asked him not to lose heart as it (court) would make it sure that the law would see the light of the day.
In the past, civic agencies, including the CDA, had launched a number of housing schemes which were near completion but not a single quota was allocated to provide a decent accommodation to the poor, the court regretted.
The federal as well as provincial governments are patronising the land mafia which is flourishing only because of its influence over government officials and state machinery, regretted Justice Isa.
“The government should not put the court in a tight corner leaving it to slap a blanket countrywide ban on existing housing schemes,” the court warned.
Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016
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