HYDERABAD, Feb 23: Sindh Minister for Kachchi Abadis Rafique Engineer said on Monday that the government had decided to regularise old villages and kachchi abadis and give ownership rights over land to the inhabitants.

He said at a Naat and calligraphy competition organised by the Women Development and Cultural Forum at Khan Bahadur Mohammad Siddique Girls Degree College that it was part of the party manifesto to provide shelter to the poor.

He said that the government was considering regularising the kachchi abadis, which ha cropped up on the land owned by different government departments.

He said that the government had started a process to obtain no-objection certificate from the land owning organisations and hopefully it would materialise soon.

Besides, the government had launched housing schemes at federal and provincial level to provide shelter to the poor and shelter-less in each district of the province, he said.

He said that such a scheme had been launched in Thatta, Badin, Bin Qasim Town, Karachi, and other coastal areas of the province. Thousands of acres of land had been identified and made available in different districts of the province where construction work would be started soon, he said.

He said that residents of all regularised kachchi abadis, established villages and housing schemes would b provided water supply, drainage, education and healthcare.

About the Naat and calligraphy competition, the minister said that extracurricular activities would encourage and discover talented students and create leadership qualities among them.

He said that it was Benazir Bhutto’s mission to encourage women to enable them to participate in nation building activities. The government was encouraging women in each walk of life and taking steps for their socio-economic empowerment by allotting agricultural land to the poor women in rural areas and giving jobs to literate women, he said.

In addition, the government was working hard on legislation to protect women’s rights, he said and praised efforts being made by women’s forum.

He appealed to other sister organisations to come forward and encourage girls’ education. Increase in female literacy rate was essential for national prosperity and the organisations concerned should play their due role in this regard, he said.

He announced cash award of Rs10,000 for the first position holder and Rs5,000 each for the second and third position holders of the competition. Later, he gave away prizes, shields and certificates among position-holders and participants of the competition.