City Desk :
Smile overflows the face of Mainul Islam, an elderly man of the Baroipara village under Puthia Upazila of the Rajshahi district, as the government has made true his long-cherished dream of own home.
He thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from his heart for taking the Ashrayan Project to ensure home for the homeless.
Mainul Islam, 71, a tea stall owner, used to stay at a government khas land. He always tried to save some money from his income for making a permanent address for his next generation. But the income from the tea stall was not very good and he could not save nothing after bearing all expenses of his family comprising wife, three daughters and one son.
“I didn’t have any home of my own. So, I always suffered from identity crisis. I had a dream to build a home for my next generation so that they don’t feel any identity crisis,” Mainul Islam told BSS while sharing his bitter experience of life.
Now, the government’s Ashrayan Project appeared as “god from the machine” for Mainul Isalm as he got a two-room semi-pucca tin-shed house of his own on two decimals land like thousands of other homeless people. Through this, a dream came true for Mainul and his family members, reports BSS.
Mainul Islam used to live from hand to mouth and he could never imagine that he would have his own house with water and electricity facilities.
Like Mainul Islam, the government has already created permanent address for the thousands of homeless people under the project.
Talking to BSS, Senior Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah said a total of 1,17,329 single houses were constructed under first and second phases of the Ashrayan-2 project.
Taka 3,971 crore 6 lakh 83 thousand was allocated for construction of the houses till current fiscal year, he added.
He informed that as part of the government’s target to ensure housing for the landless and homeless people, 65,474 more single houses are being constructed under third phase of the project.
At the third phase of Ashrayan-2, he mentioned that the government has raised the cost and brought changes in design to make houses more sustainable and climate-resilient.
“Now the landless and homeless people will get better quality abodes along with two decimals of land,” he added.
Tofazzel Hossain Miah informed that the cost against each house has been increased to Taka 259,500 from Taka 1,91,000 to make the houses more durable and spectacular.
Besides, portable houses are given to homeless families staying in Char lands so that they can move their abode during river erosion, he said.
Project Director of Ashrayan-2 Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous Khan said the government is constructing the 65,474 houses having strong great-beam, lintel and reinforced concrete column (RCC) pillar for making the houses more sustainable.
He informed that some 1042 specially designed houses have also been allotted for char region under the third phase.
Special design has been made so that the houses can be shifted to other places in view of any natural disaster like cyclone or flood, he added.
Apart from khas land, he said, the government has purchased 155 acres of land for rehabilitating homeless and landless people. Purchasing lands by government is a unique example in the world. Taka 108 crore 91 lakh 20 thousand has been allocated for purchasing lands, he added.
He mentioned that a total of 6891 landless and homeless families will be rehabilitated on the houses to be built at purchased lands.
The government recovered 5512.04 acres of khas land from illegal occupation across the country for constructing houses for the project on the occasion of Mujib Barsho, he added.
He said the approximate market price of the recovered khas land is Taka 2967 crore 9 lakh.
Under the Ashrayan project, a total of 7,08,003 families have been rehabilitated till current fiscal year since 1997. The number of rehabilitated people is 35,40,015 (estimated as five persons in a family).
According to project details, the unique feature of the Ashrayan Project perceived by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is that there is a special connection of housing activities with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Building houses alone can have major footprints in the attainment of various sustainable development goals.
Housing is related to positive changes in the areas of education, health, security, empowerment, women’s empowerment as well as inclusive development.
