Chief Minister Punjab shares okra and lentils with a retired soldier’s family in Hassan Abdal to mark the housing milestone, and announces 186 schemes for a district the government says has never seen development on this scale.
HASSAN ABDAL/LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif marked the completion of 225,000 loans under her flagship housing scheme on Wednesday at the new home of a retired army havaldar in Hassan Abdal, and unveiled a Rs31.75 billion development package for Attock district, combining a personal touch with the province’s biggest spending pledge for the area.
Retired Havaldar Itbar Shah built his house with a Rs1.5 million interest-free loan under the Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar programme. He told the chief minister he owned a plot but had been waiting for financial help to build on it, which the loan provided.
Maryam Nawaz symbolically inaugurated the house, congratulated the family and presented them with gifts. She then asked to share a meal, and the family served okra and lentil curry, which she praised as simple, home-cooked food. Family members became emotional as they thanked her, according to the government’s account.
The chief minister said reaching 225,000 loans showed the programme had become a source of hope for homeless families across Punjab.
Soldier’s home where the scheme reaches
Itbar Shah’s case shows exactly whom the scheme is designed for. Borrowers must already own a plot, up to five marla in a city or ten in a village, and lack the money to build. As of mid-October, the government had disbursed more than Rs284 billion in loans, and it now reports 128,718 homes completed, 62,600 more nearing completion and repayments running at 97.6pc.
Families who rent and own no land cannot apply, a gap The Lahore Times has examined since the scheme won a UN-Habitat award. More than 1.7 million people have registered on the scheme’s portal, so most applicants are still waiting.
The Attock package
The Rs31.75 billion package covers 186 schemes across Attock, which the provincial government called the largest development initiative in the district’s 122-year history. Attock was established as Campbellpur district in 1904.
Roads take nearly three-quarters of the money. Fifty-nine road construction, rehabilitation and widening schemes are worth Rs23.25 billion, covering 865 kilometres of roads at once, the first time so many have been launched together in the district. They include the 43.95km Fateh Jang-Pindi Gheb Road, the Dhok Laham-Jhamat Road and the Mithial Chowk-Dhok Pathan Road, links that matter for farmers and traders in the district’s rain-fed southern tehsils.
Another 127 projects worth Rs8.5 billion cover other sectors. Construction and renovation have been completed at 82 Maryam Nawaz Clinics and hospitals in the district, the province’s renamed basic health units and rural health centres. Nawaz Sharif Centres of Excellence for Special Education have been set up in Hassan Abdal and Fateh Jang, and a modern children’s home, a Model Agri Mall and a land record centre in Hazro are being developed.
Putting the numbers in context
The government did not say over how many years the package will be spent or how much has been released. The comparison with earlier years is also not straightforward. In January 2025, district officials told a review meeting that more than Rs32 billion was being spent on about 134 projects in Attock during that fiscal year, including Rs17.35 billion on highways, Dawn reported.
The package comes after Punjab cut its annual development programme for 2026-27 by about 40pc to Rs752 billion, so district packages like Attock’s compete for a smaller pool of money, while the province has also committed large sums to its three-year PIVOT economic plan.
Naming is another feature of the province’s programmes. Under a 2025 health law, more than 2,800 basic health units and rural health centres across Punjab have been renamed Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics and Maryam Nawaz Hospitals, and new special education centres carry the name of her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
For Attock’s residents, the test will be how quickly the 865km of roads are actually rebuilt and whether the new facilities are staffed and equipped. The provincial government says the projects will improve road links, widen access to public services and speed up development in the district.
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