More than 3,200 slum families in Rajshahi city will get housing facilities valued at around Taka 3.20 crore free of cost for the first time in the metropolis, speakers at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day workshop said yesterday.
Under the scheme, the poor and extreme-poor households will get housing improvement support like floor and pillar construction and corrugated sheets.
Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project (UPPRP) organized the workshop styled Community-led Tenure Security and Housing Improvement at Safawang Community center in the city.
Local Government Engineering Department has been implementing the project in the metropolis in association with UNDP and financial and technical supports from UKaid and UN Habitat.
The main thrust of the project is to improve the living and livelihood condition of more than two and half lakh poor and ultra poor people, especially women and girls, in the Rajshahi city by this year-end.
In the wake of gradual rising of slum, poor and ultra poor people, the ongoing anti-poverty scheme needs to be continued for urban poverty eradication in the city, Mosaddeque Hossain Bulbul, Mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) said while addressing the workshop as the chief guest. “We are seeing visible success of the poverty reduction project in making the city free from various poverty-linked crimes and curses like child marriage, early pregnancy, dowry and drugs addiction and trafficking, he added. RCC Chief Executive Officer Ajahar Ali, Executive Engineer Noor Islam Tusser and others concerned also spoke.
In his welcome speech, Ershadul Haque, Town Manager of UPPRP, said the beneficiary communities identify and give priorities to the environmental, social and economic challenges they face as well as the required actions to address them.
More than 33,000 slum families have come together in anti-poverty savings scheme to raise more than Taka 9.5 crore. Through the savings and credit programmes, the communities now can operate their own savings schemes and create a revolving fund from which credit operations are being managed, said the city mayor.
Besides, under socio-economic fund, education grants are being disbursed among dropout school children.
It also provides business start-up grants to extreme poor women for poultry, goat rearing, beef fattening and agri-business allowing them to have access to regular income.
Besides, the ongoing apprenticeships and vocational training improve the odds of youth landing decent jobs and regular income.
Various other settlement improvement facilities like 11,000 latrines, 2,300 tubewells, 57,000 square -meter footpath and 9,000 meter drain were developed for ensuring safe-drinking water and sanitation among the poverty-prone communities.
The access to improved water sources makes the lives of community members healthier while the constructed toilets and bathing facilities leads to improved hygiene practices.
