Centre for Governance and Public Management (CGPM) at the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) will be holding its second Governance Lecture Series this academic year, titled 'Katchi Abadis: The Problem and Ways to a Solution’.
Speaker: Tasneem Siddiqui
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Date: November 16, 2017
Venue: B1 Auditorium, Suleman Dawood School of Business, LUMS
About the Talk
Why should there be katchi abadis if at all? Why can’t every one live in a decent house, in a well-planned neighbourhood, with all amenities of civic life? Do people live in slum areas for the fun of it? Is it the katchi abadis dwellers’ own fault that they live there, or are they victims?
About the Speaker
Mr. Tasneem Siddiqui joined the Erstwhile Civil Service of Pakistan in 1965 and rose to become Chief Secretary, Government of Sindh, before his retirement. Working as Director General, Hyderabad Development Authority he developed an interest in affordable housing and with his team of dedicated colleagues, he was successful in evolving and implementing the innovative concept of ‘incremental housing development’.
The project known as ‘Khuda-ki-Basti’ is now internationally recognised as one of the best options for sheltering the poor. As a development practitioner, Mr. Siddiqui evolved new concepts of pro-poor planning in other fields and working as chief of Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority started a process of regularization and to upgrade squatter’s settlements, which involve communities at all stages of planning and development. He was able to successfully demonstrate that low-income people have the willingness and capacity to pay for services, provided the credibility gap between them and the government is bridged, and simple mechanisms are evolved to reach them.
He was awarded the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995. For excellence in public service, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1999.
His three books namely, ‘Towards Good Governance’, ‘Dynamics of Social Change’ and ‘Time for Change’ have been well received. He is on the visiting faculty of many universities and training institutions and divides his time between Saiban – an NGO established in 1991, and the Orangi Pilot Project.
