LARKANA: Syed Najmi Alam, adviser to Sindh chief minister on human settlements, has said that camps will be set up in Katchi Abadis across Larkana after Eid to give impoverished citizens ownership rights of their homes on easy installments.

Mr Alam told journalists after presiding over a meeting held here on Saturday to take stock of the department’s performance and discuss future plans regarding the next budget that their goal was to give ownership rights to the poor to enable them to legally possess their homes.

He said that the director’s office would remain open full-time and Katchi Abadi camps would be visible in different areas. Elected representatives would also monitor the performance of the department, he said.

He said that Director General of Katchi Abadi would visit Larkana next week and resolve these issues within two to three days.

About demolition of houses along railway track on the pretext of encroachments, he made it clear that any operation in the area must be substantiated with documentary proof of the land’s ownership.

He said the railway administration must first present official ownership documents.

Without prior consultation with the district administration, no operation should be carried out he said adding that if any such operation was conducted unilaterally, the district administration would not extend any cooperation to the railway authorities.

He said that Larkana commissioner had been directed to write to railways authorities to demand proof of ownership for land and reiterated that no operations would be conducted without informing the district administration.

He said the government had decided to allow payments through two-year installment plans, enabling residents to pay minimum Rs5,000 per month to become owners of their homes.

He said that Sindh government was constructing houses for two million people affected by floods as the party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had directed that every citizen in the province should have a shelter before the Sindh government’s term ended.

He said that he had transferred the director of the Katchi Abadi Authority, Larkana, over unsatisfactory performance.

Earlier, Mr Alam presided over a meeting at Darbar Hall regarding leases and ownership rights under the Katchi Abadi program.

MNA Khursheed Ahmed Junejo, MPA Jameel Ahmed Soomro, Larkana Commissioner

Tahir Hussain Sangi, deputy commissioner,

Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khair Muhammad Sheikh, District Council Chairman Aijaz Ahmed Leghari, Sachal Town Chairman Sarfraz Khokhar and Katchi Abadi officials attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2025