President underscores need to develop Katchi abadis on modern pattern.

ISLAMABAD -- President Dr Arif Alvi Wednesday underlined the need for developing the Katchi Abadis (slum areas) on modern lines with all the facilities like schools, colleges, hospitals, commercial areas, mosques, parks and playgrounds and open spaces for roads.

He said that the poor class had been ignored in the past and it was essential to initiate measures to raise their living standards.

The president was chairing a follow-up meeting on transformation of Katchi abadis into developed areas, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, a press release said.

The meeting was attended by Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, Firdous Shamim Naqvi member of Sindh Assembly, Chairman Naya Pakistan Housing Authority (NPHA), Lt. General (retd) Anwar Hyder, Secretary to the President Tariq Najeeb Najmi, Secretary Housing and Works Dr Imran Zeb Khan, Deputy Chairman NPHA Major General Amir Aslam, Additional Attorney General Ch. Aamir Rehman, Aqeel Karim Dhedhi and ex-Chairman Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan, Hassan Bakhshi, while Najeeb Haroon, a member of the National Assembly and Chairman Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited Samar Ali Khan participated in the meeting through a video conference from Karachi.

The meeting reviewed various proposals to transform these...