National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Spokesperson Faiq Ali on Thursday claimed that around 200,000 people from 174 countries had simultaneously accessed its website as soon as the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme was launched on Nadra's website.

Registration was opened in seven districts, namely Islamabad, Quetta, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Swat, Faisalabad, and Sukkur.

The spokesperson claimed that 62,000 forms were downloaded from Nadra's site within the first hour of programme's launch and that so far 125,000 forms for the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme have been downloaded.

10,000 hits per second were observed as soon as registration was opened, Ali said adding that the site had been "temporarily affected" due to the increase in traffic, but it was now functioning as normal.

The form is free of cost, however, a registration fee of Rs250 has to be paid whilst submitting the form at the specified Nadra offices, the spokesperson said.

Affordable housing

Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched the affordable housing programme in a ceremony on Wednesday, announcing that five million affordable houses would be constructed over a period of five years for low-income segments of society.

He had disclosed that a 60-day pilot project would commence from today in coordination with Nadra in seven districts to assess the demand and payment capacity for affordable houses.

PM Khan had said that the housing programme would bring long-due prosperity to the country, adding that at least 40 other industries connecting to the housing industry would be set in motion as soon as construction for the project started in urban as well as rural areas.

"The target of this [plan] is the common man, who could not even think about owning a house," he had said.

Khan said that while citizens of many other countries build their houses on loans, only 0.25 per cent of Pakistani citizens took loans for the purpose due to a lack of legal structure.

The government's housing policy would seek to eliminate these hurdles, he said.

The construction for the scheme will be carried out by the private sector, while the government will facilitate it by removing hurdles and providing the land for the construction.

In this regard, the prime minister also announced the formation of the 'Naya Pakistan Housing Authority' which will provide one-window operations to facilitate the construction industry. The authority will be set up in three months, while a 17-member task force will oversee the housing project until then.