250 Low-Income Families to Get Housing on ‘Mujib Year’ in Rajshahi

To mark the Mujib Barsha-2020, the centenary of the birth of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheik Mujibur Rahman, a total of 250 more low-income families will get housing facilities in Rajshahi city areas within this year.

Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) will provide housing assistance for low-income urban families to boost their working and living conditions by ensuring their homes.

In the meantime, 261 slum dwellers are currently residing in the brick-built house throwing out their long-lasting existence in thatched or mud-house as they acquired communal housing in the town.

They had just moved into their new houses which they developed with funding from the Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF) and the initiative ' Livelihoods Enhancement of Urban Poor Communities' (LIUPC).

Earlier, loans worth Taka two lakh for the home-building purposes were issued to each of the beneficiaries having land but not property.

This was disclosed by RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, speaking as chief guest yesterday evening at the second annual general meeting of the CHDF at the Mango Resort Garden Centre.

Chaired by RCC Secretary Abu Hayat Rahmatuhllah, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Executive Engineer Nur Islam and Chief Community Development Officer AzizurRahman.

Mayor Liton said that adequate housing has become a requirement for achieving sustainable development goals (SDG-11), maintaining targeted urbanization and continued economic growth in the region.

He said the city corporation would take steps to develop affordable houses by implementing a structured strategy that solves the increasing housing crisis that is focused on need.

Liton concentrated on improving cooperation between government and non-governmental organisations and engaging members of the public and other related actors to support plans for people living in poor urban areas.

He also suggested implementing community-led housing models that accommodate the urban poor in city areas and help improve their living standards.

The meeting was told the city corporation has started implementing the LIUPC project in cooperation with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in order to achieve long-term sustainable growth by eradicating urban poverty and achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The project has been designed to reach initially the unserved and underserved urban population in the city and to promote livelihoods and living conditions of 1.80 lakh poor people living in urban areas.

Mayor Liton urged all concerned to discharge their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty for proper and successful implementation of the project so that the target group of people can derive its total benefits. 

Source: BSS