Conversion of Agricultural land to Housing societies is a matter of grave concern: Sami Saeed

Islamabad, August 29 (Online): While chairing the first meeting of the committee on consensus Regulatory conversion of Agricultural Land to Housing societies in Pakistan, the Caretaker Minister for Planning and Development Muhammad Sami Saeed urged the Provincial Governments to take the lead in regulating Agricultural Land to protect the Agriculture sector in the country.

The meeting was held in order to assess and address the concerns pertaining to utilization of Agricultural land for urban development and was attended by secretary Inter Provincial coordination, officials from Ministry of Climate change and representatives of Provincial Governments.

The Minister noted that Agriculture is the mainstay in our economy and its rapid conversion into urban/ Housing societies is a matter of grave concern.
The Minister urged all the stakeholders including the Provincial Governments to join hands with the Federal Government in formulation of a roadmap for regulating the urbanization of agricultural land that also should be aligned with the future need in food and accommodation of people.

The Minister directed to frame district -wise deliverables and parameters and a master plan should be in place that govern the conversion of Agricultural land to housing societies based on these parameters.
The Minister further added that implementation and enforcement, under the current framework of rules and regulations, of the plan is of paramount importance and efforts should be made to implement the strategy successfully.