Our Correspndent :
Faijun Begum’s beaming face reflected her cherished dream of living in her own house, which may become a reality as the government pledged to provide land and houses to homeless and landless people to mark Mujib Year.
Asia’s husband died years ago and the octagenarian woman of Moulvibazar’s Kulaura has since had to struggle to find shelter. She lived in her daughter’s house and her son, a cattle trader, has his own family.
“Now, Prime Minister gave me a home,” she said. She added that I am now with my son, daughter-in-law and grandson.
For Gouri Rani Das, 55, a piece of land and a house of their own signify self-esteem.
“Having my own house is like having a magic wand,” said Gouri, a home maid who lived in a rented house in Kulaura for more than two decades.
Both Faijun and Gouri’s families got houses as part of the government’s special initiative on the occasion of Mujib Borsho–the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In the first phase, the government gave land ownership and houses to some 100 families in Kulaura Upazila in Moulvibazar.
The Ashrayan-2 Project has been coordinating the initiative’s implementation.
ATM Farhad Chowdhury, UNO of Kulaura Upazila Nirbahi officer said the initiative is a unique one in the country. He said each family will have the ownership of 2 decimals of land and a tin-roofed concrete house will be built on the land free of cost.
Each house comprises two rooms, a kitchen, a toilet, a balcony and a common space. The houses were built on khas land, he told journalists during a visit to a cluster of houses in Kulaura on recently.
Building each house costs around Tk 1.71 lakh, he further said. This correspondent, along with a group of journalists, recently visited at least two clusters of houses in Kulaura Upazila of Moulvibazar, and talked to about a dozen people who became homeless due to various reasons.
They said having a house of their own rekindle their hopes of overcoming various challenges and poverty.
