Pak cabinet approves construction of railway station at Nankana Sahib

Pakistan cabinet on Tuesday approved the construction of a railway station at the Sikh holy city of Nankana Sahib in Punjab and decided to name it after the faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Nankana Sahib is the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev, who also first began preaching here. The city has high historic and religious value and a popular pilgrimage site for Sikhs from all over the world.

"The cabinet has approved the construction of a train station at Sikh holy city of Nankana Sahib in Punjab and it will be named after Baba Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism," Fawad Chaudhry, Information Minister, told reporters here.

Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district.

Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

Pakistan had said that it would provide land for the construction of a railway station.

The Pakistan cabinet also gave it's nod for the construction of 135,000 apartments for the shelterless and government employees as part of a major election promise by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Khan had pledged to start building 5 million low-priced houses under his pet Naya Pakistan Housing Authority project in the first 100 days of his government. But the project was delayed inviting a lot of criticism from the opposition.

Chaudhry said the cabinet meeting chaired by PM Khan has decided to start the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority project.

Initially 135,000 apartments are being constructed and Prime Minister will inaugurate the project on April 17 in Islamabad where 25,000 units will be built, Chaudhry said.

Another 110,000 apartments will be built in the coastal city Gwadar in Balochistan, which is also hub of economic activities under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

The Gwadar project will be launched by the prime minister in provincial capital Quetta after April 20.