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LAHORE, Dec 16 (APP):Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday conducted a balloting ceremony for the allotment of 720 newly constructed apartments for homeless industrial workers at the Sundar Industrial Estate, marking a significant welfare initiative for the province’s labour force.
She formally inaugurated the balloting process by pressing a button and personally congratulated several successful applicants via telephone.
Describing the initiative as a reflection of a “motherly state,” the Chief Minister said 720 hardworking families would now have homes of their own, freeing them from the burden of monthly rent and the fear of eviction. She directed that widows and persons with disabilities be allotted apartments without participating in the balloting process, and that special provisions be made to provide ground-floor apartments for easy access and safety. She further instructed that possession of apartments be handed over to successful allottees within seven days.
CM Maryam Nawaz also directed the completion of an additional 1,872 apartments for industrial workers within the next 18 months, and a bachelor hostel for 700 workers at the Quaid-e-Azam Business Park in Sheikhupura within three months.
CM Maryam Nawaz expressed her commitment to improving the living standards of industrial workers across Punjab, emphasizing that their welfare and dignity remain a top priority for the provincial government.
Provincial Minister for Labour and Human Resources Mian Manshaullah Butt briefed the Chief Minister that the provision of free apartments, plots, and bachelor hostels for industrial workers is part of the vision of Quaid PML-N Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. Authorities informed her that the Sundar Industrial Estate apartment project was completed at a total cost of Rs 3.40 billion, with each apartment costing over Rs 3.6 million.
During the ceremony, CM Maryam Nawaz personally called an industrial worker, Nadeem Tahir, to congratulate him and advised him to care for his parents, attributing his success to their prayers. Officials said 5,897 workers were declared eligible for the Worker Welfare Complex at Sundar Industrial Estate Phase-I, with 480 apartments reserved for Kasur-based workers and 240 for Lahore-based workers.
Authorities also briefed that Phase-II will include 672 apartments at Sundar, 656 in Multan, and 544 in Warburton, Nankana Sahib. Labour colonies in Jhang and Kamalia will provide 2,000 industrial workers with free residential plots measuring three marlas each, with 1,300 plots in Jhang and 700 in Kamalia to be distributed after completion of infrastructure development.