Islamabad, Sept 3: PPP Co-chairman and presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly asked the federal government to plan residential apartments for journalists at “affordable installments”.

The ministries of Housing and Information should consult journalist organisations to devise criteria for eligibility and should ensure merit and transparency in the allotments, the Daily Times quoted him as saying here last evening.

After a meeting with Housing and Works Minister Haji Rehmantullah Kakar, Zardari said providing housing was an important part of the PPP manifesto and that the ministry was already working on a countrywide project to build one million housing units.

He also said that the media had an important role in nation-building and it was, therefore, the government’s responsibility to provide them with basic facilities so that they would focus on their profession.

Zardari said the government believed in the independence and strengthening of the media and had already struck down media curbs imposed after the November 3, 2007 state of emergency. (ANI)