Karachi to get four more 'Panahgah' centres soon.

KARACHI -- As part of Prime Minister Imran Khan's initiative, the federal government has identified five places in Karachi to set up as many Panahgahs, where underprivileged and other people from poor segments of society will be provided free food and shelter, in a first such move for the metropolis after more than 100 such centres have already been established in different parts of the country, it emerged on Sunday.

Officials said one of the five Panahgahs had already started functioning in Surjani Town without much media fanfare and formal inauguration while four more centres would be established in different areas.

The federal authorities, they said, had selected low-income neighbourhoods and the residential areas of migrant workers to reach maximum number of deserving people.

'Apart from Surjani Town, sites have been selected in Korangi, Lyari, New Karachi and Sohrab Goth,' said Naseem ur Rehman, the focal person for the government's Panagah programme.

After Surjani Town, such centres will be set up in Korangi, Lyari, New Karachi and Sohrab Goth

'The one in Surjani Town has already started and we hope that within the first quarter of this year Karachi will get all five functional centres. It's being done in line with the vision of the prime minister, who has been a strong proponent of providing all-out facilities to the downtrodden segment of society,' he added.

He said the basic concept behind setting up Panahgahs was to support the poor and labour class of the society, which remained shelter-less in urban areas while earning bread for their families mostly living in the rural parts of the country.

The Panagahs, he said, primarily offered them a space with food and shelter amid the best...