The Federal Cabinet has approved expanding the network of panahgahs (shelters) across the country to facilitate the downtrodden.
Briefing media in Islamabad yesterday about decisions taken in the cabinet meeting, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said the concept of the panahgah is very close to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s heart, as he believes in providing shelter to the poor.
He said the cabinet has also approved the setting up of a ferry service for pilgrims at Gwadar.
Further, Faraz said, the cabinet approved closure of dysfunctional power plants.
The minister said the Cabinet held a detailed discussion on the situation in Karachi and interior Sindh following heavy rainfall.
He said that the cabinet has constituted a special committee to estimate losses incurred due to rains.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Khan has handed over the administrative control of five panahgahs in the federal capital to Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM), and directed the authorities concerned to remodel them in three months.
“In the first phase, panahgahs in Islamabad should be remodelled, and these centres in the country should be revamped in the second phase,” the prime minister said during a visit to a panahgah at Tarlai.
A source said that the government handed over the charge of all panahgahs in the federal capital to the PBM, as the local administration was facing hardships in running them without monetary assistance from the government.
The prime minister inspected the facilities in the panahgah at Tarlai, inquired about the condition and problems of the people staying there, and later had a meal with the residents.
The source said Khan remarked that he wanted all the panahgahs in the country – numbering over 100 – to be of the same standard and have the same quality of facilities.
In this connection, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation (PPA) and the PBM have been tasked to upgrade all panahgahs.
A senior official of the district administration said that the Tarlai cantre was established on December 26, 2018, and was upgraded within a month after the prime minister had ordered for revamping of all the centres in the city.
Panahgahs are typically are being run on a “help yourself” basis, putting extra monetary and administrative load on the already cash-strapped local authorities.
The government established panahgahs in the federal capital and in two provinces – Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – without allocating funds for them.
Some of these shelter homes were established in government buildings, some in makeshift structures, and others in rented buildings.
Prime Minister Khan: wants all the panahgahs in the country to be of the same standard and quality of facilities as the panahgah in Tarlai.
