STAFF REPORTER
PESHAWAR : Provincial President of the Pakistan Hindkuwan Tehreek, Muhammad Akbar Sethi, has expressed deep concern over the acute shortage of rental housing and the continued sharp increase in rents in Peshawar, saying that soaring rents have made life extremely difficult for ordinary citizens. He demanded that the government immediately conduct a comprehensive survey of the city, maintain a legal record of landlords and tenants, and formulate a clear official mechanism for determining house rents.
In his statement, Muhammad Akbar Sethi said that the influx of people from tribal and southern districts had significantly increased the population burden on Peshawar. However, despite the return of Afghan citizens, rents have continued to rise instead of declining, placing local residents under severe financial pressure.
He said that monthly rent for a house measuring merely one marla in Peshawar is being charged between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000. “How can an ordinary citizen earning Rs30,000 a month run a household amid the current inflation? Should he pay the house rent, utility bills, buy groceries, or pay his children’s school fees?” he questioned.
Muhammad Akbar Sethi said that the situation in the inner city had deteriorated to such an extent that long-time residents of Peshawar were beginning to feel like strangers in their own city. In the absence of any clear government formula or effective monitoring mechanism for determining rents, citizens have been left at the mercy of property agents and landlords.
He further said that deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners also lacked organized data on people newly settling in Peshawar, making it difficult to formulate effective policies to address the city’s population, housing and rental crisis.
The provincial president of the Pakistan Hindkuwan Tehreek demanded that the government immediately conduct a comprehensive survey of Peshawar, prepare a legal record of landlords and tenants, determine reasonable official rents on a per-marla basis, and prominently display the approved rate lists at all major intersections and property agents’ offices across the city.
He said that effective monitoring and a transparent regulatory mechanism were essential to protect citizens from arbitrary rent increases and ensure their basic right to affordable housing.
