LAHORE | Nazrana Times Ali Imran Chattha 

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s flagship housing initiative, ‘Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar’, has been selected for the United Nations Scroll of Honour Award, according to the Punjab government.
The award, announced by UN-Habitat, recognises the programme’s efforts to provide safe and adequate housing opportunities to low-income families.
According to the announcement, the programme was selected after a competitive review of housing initiatives being implemented around the world. The award will be presented during the global World Habitat Day event on October 5.
The UN Scroll of Honour Award ceremony will be held next month in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Special seminars and workshops focusing on housing and urban development are also scheduled in Muscat from October 6 to 8.
Only five programmes from around the world are selected for the UN Scroll of Honour Award each year, according to the announcement.
Under the ‘Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar’ programme, loans worth Rs260 billion have been disbursed for the construction of more than 200,000 houses. The initiative has also been described as Pakistan’s largest and first fully digital housing finance scheme.
In the first phase, loans exceeding Rs196 billion were disbursed for 134,439 houses, while the second phase provided more than Rs62 billion in loans for around 65,000 houses.
Around 125,000 families have already moved into houses constructed under the programme.