LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said that, for the first time in the country’s history, a unique project has been launched to provide free homes to labourers, under which 720 workers have become owners of their own houses.
The chief minister formally inaugurated the distribution of homes by handing over flat keys to labourers.
She attended a special ceremony organised under the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI), where she was briefed on the free flats project and other ongoing initiatives.
Under the Sundar Estate Flats Project, special preference was given to widows and differently-abled persons. A documentary highlighting programmes of the Labour Department was also presented during the ceremony.
The CM distributed allotment letters and keys of free flats among labourers. In the widows’ category, Sonia Pervaiz received an allotment letter and keys to a free flat. Hearing-impaired Yasir Hanif and polio patient Farhan Ali were also handed allotment letters and keys.
The chief minister also distributed allotment letters and keys to Muhammad Wasif and Shahadat Ali. Abida Ali, Kausar Bibi, elderly worker Victor Hector and Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmad also received allotment letters and keys for free flats.
Punjab Labour Minister Mansha Ullah Butt said the Punjab Labour Department had once been an overlooked institution, but in 1988, Nawaz Sharif introduced revolutionary measures for labourers.
He added that owning a home is every worker’s dream, and Maryam Nawaz Sharif has turned that dream into reality. He further said that Maryam Nawaz is the first chief minister to provide free flats to labourers.
Addressing the ceremony, the chief minister said, “Workers, friends of Allah! Congratulations to all of you. Congratulations on your own home, your own roof and your own residence.”
She announced that more than 5,000 labourers would be provided houses within the next three years, along with three-marla plots and loans for house construction.
The CM Punjab said whether rich or poor, having one’s own house provided security to children and made a person’s hard work meaningful.
She said each apartment had been constructed at a cost of Rs3.5 million, but not a single penny had been taken from the workers. “These houses are being given completely free of cost,” she said, adding that the apartments consisted of two bedrooms, a lounge and a washroom.
The chief minister said the seed planted in the labour department by Nawaz Sharif 40 years ago had now become a strong tree. She added that her father, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was extremely happy over the handing over of house keys to 720 families.
“We are giving homes to labourers absolutely free. May Allah bless you with happiness in these homes,” she said.
She announced that workers would also be provided three-marla plots and easy loans for house construction. She said over 100,000 houses had been completed in just over a year under the “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” scheme, calling it perhaps a unique example in the world. “One hundred thousand families who once wandered without shelter have now shifted to their own homes under the scheme,” she said, adding that 65,000 houses were currently under construction and the target of 500,000 houses would be achieved within the next three-and-a-half years.
The CM Punjab said that, like the “Suthra Punjab” initiative, the “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” scheme had also emerged as a successful model internationally. She added that people without land would also be provided plots along with loans for construction.
The chief minister said ration cards had been issued to 1.5 million workers at a cost of Rs40 billion, under which labourers were being provided financial assistance of Rs3,000 per month.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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