Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui
Founding Member Chairman Board of Director
Mr. Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui started his career by joining the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1965 and with progress in his career he became Chief Secretary Government of Sindh, before his retirement.
While working as Director General, Hyderabad Development Authority, Mr. Siddiqui developed an interest in housing for the low-income groups 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 recognized as one of the best options for sheltering the poor community.
He was awarded with the following prestigious awards: Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995; Ramon Magsaysay Award, for excellence in public service in 1999; and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1999.
As a development practitioner, Mr. Siddiqui evolved new concepts of pro-poor planning in other fields also, and while working as chief of Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority, he started a process of regularization and upgradation of squatters settlements which involved the communities at all stages of planning and development.
Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui
Founding Member Chairman Board of Director
Mr. Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui started his career by joining the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1965 and with progress in his career he became Chief Secretary Government of Sindh, before his retirement.
While working as Director General, Hyderabad Development Authority, Mr. Siddiqui developed an interest in housing for the low-income groups 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 recognized as one of the best options for sheltering the poor community.
He was awarded with the following prestigious awards: Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995; Ramon Magsaysay Award, for excellence in public service in 1999; and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1999.
As a development practitioner, Mr. Siddiqui evolved new concepts of pro-poor planning in other fields also, and while working as chief of Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority, he started a process of regularization and upgradation of squatters settlements which involved the communities at all stages of planning and development.
He was able to successfully demonstrate that low-income communities have the willingness and capacity to pay for the services, provided the credibility gap between them and the government is bridged, and simple mechanisms are evolved to reach them. He is a senior Ashoka Fellow, member of the Club of Rome and one of the earliest Social Entrepreneurs of World Economic Forum.
He is a prolific writer, and has written on many subjects on the following topics:
- Process of social change
- Imperatives for land reforms in Pakistan
- Reasons for hyper-urbanization in developing countries
- Dynamics of bureaucratic rule
- An Analysis of development strategies adopted by different countries.
From many successful publications his following three books were especially well received:
- Towards Good Governance
- Dynamics of Social Change
- Time for Change
He is on the visiting faculty of many universities and training institutions and spends most of his time with OPRCT under OPP and an NPO named “Saiban”.
