BSS, Rajshahi :
More than 5,000 slum dwellers in Rajshahi city have started getting housing facilities valued at around Taka 5 crore for the first time in the metropolis in partnership approach.
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) is providing the facilities under its Community Housing Development Fund with financial support from Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project (UPPRP).
Local Government Engineering Department has been implementing the project in the metropolis in association with UNDP and financial and technical supports from UK aid and UN Habitat.
As part of his continuous launching programme City Mayor Mosaddique Hossain Bulbul inaugurated the construction work of a house at Assam Colony slum here yesterday as the chief guest.
RCC Ward Councilors Munir Hossain, Momtaj Mohal Laily, Executive Engineer Nur Islam Tusser and UPPRP Town Manager Mahbubul Alam were present on the occasion.
According to the officials concerned, main thrust of the project is to improve the living and livelihood condition of more than two and half lakh poor and extreme poor people, especially women and girls, in the Rajshahi city by March 2015.
Under the project, more than 71,000 slum households and other underprivileged families across the city have come together in an anti-poverty savings scheme.
Through the savings and credit programmes, the communities now can operate their own savings schemes and create a revolving fund from which credit operation are being managed by themselves.
Besides, under socioeconomic fund, education grants are being disbursed among dropout school children and the education grants prevent them from dropping out of primary and secondary schools.
The programme promotes household and community level urban food production technology demonstrations, provides small input supports especially high yielding variety vegetable and fruits seeds, saplings and poultry vaccination.
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 8,484 pit latrines, one community latrine, 1,403 tube-wells, 42,412 squire-metre footpath, 6,708 metre drain, 34 dustbins and seven community centres were developed.
