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Slum in river-bed: Ravi.
Waqf property shall be used for the purpose for which it is dedicated or has
been used or for any purpose recognised by Islam as religious, pious or
charitable”. Ashiyana housing schemes were also launched in other cities of
Punjab such as Faislabad, Sahiwal and Sargodha.
Sasti Basti, a low cost scheme announced in Karachi many years ago,
suffered a fate similar to many other promised societies. The Sindh Katchi
Abadis Authority had been saying for almost a decade that in order to develop
Sasti Basti it did not require funds from the government but mere allocation of
land for the scheme and the work would commence. Their demand was yet to
reach receptive ears. If the project was implemented, the poor would have
access to around 3,000 houses along with basic facilities including educational
and health facilities.
Land scams
Distribution of land ownership has been extremely unequal in Pakistan.
According to media reports, 67 percent households owned no land in the
country while five percent of land holders possessed 64 percent of the total
farmland in the country. Income disparity, rising construction and land costs
and corruption added to the problem. It was not unusual for private housing
schemes to sell land in excess of their holding and cases have been reported
where a single plot of land was sold to up to 10 individuals. In the absence of
an effective mechanism to check the authenticity and credentials of property
dealers and housing societies, many people fell victims to elaborate scams. In
February, Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad was reported to
have been involved in a scam worth billions of rupees. The CDA Mazdoor
Union and CDA Employees Federation protested in Islamabad against the illegal
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State of Human Rights in 2012