Over 2.64 lakh landless and homeless families across the country have gotten shelters and livelihood through one of the Prime Minister’s 10 priority initiatives, ‘Ashrayan Prakalpa’.
“A total of 2,64,442 families have been rehabilitated so far in three phases across the country since 1997. The project started in 1997 and the first two phases of the project ended in 2010,” Project Director of the Ashrayan-2 Project Abul Kalam Shamsuddin told BSS.
In 2010, he said, the government undertook the Ashrayan-2 project for giviing shelter to around 2.50 lakh families at a cost of Taka 4,840.28 crore within the year 2019. Under this project, he said, the government has rehabilitated a total of 1,58,529 families from July, 2010 till now.
During the same period, the project director said, a total of 864 villages under the project got electricity connection and around 4.60 trees were planted in the project areas, where the rehabilitated people are living happily with income-generating activities and their children are going to schools to become worthy citizens of the country.
Under the project, he said, the government has already allocated housing to 1,15,775 homeless families, including 601 beggars.
“The construction of houses for homeless people is ongoing. About 30 houses have already been constructed,” he added. He said the government has undertaken the project to give the homeless people a meaningful life through providing shelter and assistance for making them self-reliant
He said the activities of the project will be accelerated more in future to alleviate poverty for fulfilling the ‘Vision 2021’ and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The local government division has been implementing comprehensive social safety-net activities under the project for mainstreaming the rehabilitated people to be self-reliant with support, training and assistance from the government.
The adult male-female members of the rehabilitated families are getting training on increasing awareness on various issues, expertise and human resource development to enable them becoming engaged in income-generation works.
Under the project, the government has also rehabilitated about 70 leprosy patients at Bandar Bari Ashrayan Prakalpa in Gazipur district. The government has also constructed a Hijra Palli in Dinajpur Sadar Upazila for the third gender people.
