33,000 Landless Families Getting Houses as PM’s Eid Gifts

About 33,000 landless and homeless families in the country are getting houses as gifts from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. On the occasion of Mujib Borsho, in the third phase of the Ashrayan-2 project of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), these houses are being handed over to these families.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will officially hand over the houses along with the lands as Eid gifts today  (Tuesday, April 26). This will add a new dimension to the Eid joy of the miserable and helpless people.

According to PMO sources, houses are being constructed for 65,474 families in the third phase of the Ashrayan-2 project. 32,904 houses have already been completed in different parts of the country. These are being given as Eid gifts. The construction of the rest is nearing completion.

On the occasion of handing over the house and land deeds, a colorful program has been organized in Chattogram, Barguna, Sirajganj and Faridpur on Monday.

The government took an initiative to house about 9 lakh landless and homeless families in the implementation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s declaration — “None will remain homeless and landless in Mujib Borsho”. On January 23 last year, the Prime Minister handed over two Shotangsho of land and houses to 66,189 homeless families across the country in the first phase of the Ashrayan-2 project. 

On June 20 of the same year, another 53,340 families were given land and new houses. In other words, 1,17,329 families have got houses in the first two phases of the Ashrayan-2 project. In the third phase, the construction of 65,474 single houses is underway. Among these, 1,042 houses are being constructed with special designs in the char areas.

Including these new houses, the number of houses allotted in three phases till the current fiscal year stands at 1,82,803. Tk 3,971 crore has been allocated for this work.

Meanwhile, the design experience of the previous two phases has been changed to make these gift houses of Mujib Borsho stronger and more durable. Special care is also being taken during land selection. The cost of building each house has also increased a lot due to constructing sustainable houses in the new design. In the third phase, the construction cost of each house has been fixed at Tk 2,59,500. The allocation in the first phase was Tk 1.71 lakh and Tk 1.90 lakh in the second phase.

Each room of blue, red and green tin-shed houses has brick walls, two floors with concrete floors and a tin canopy, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, toilet, and a front porch.

Besides, the third phase of the project includes mosques, temples, playgrounds, hat bazaars and civic amenities including a modern drainage system – so that the residents of the village are getting the benefits of the city. On the other hand, as in the previous two phases, the destitute and helpless people who got houses are now getting opportunities for self-employment by farming in their place, setting up vegetable farms, raising cattle, goats and poultry and running shops. Their children are also getting the opportunity to study.

A total of 7,08,003 landless and homeless families have been rehabilitated from 1997 to the current fiscal year on the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The total rehabilitated population is 35,40,015.

Besides, the Prime Minister has given one flat to 600 climate refugee families in 19 multi-storied buildings constructed in the first phase of the Khurushkul Ashrayan project in Cox’s Bazar Sadar as the world’s largest single climate refugee rehabilitation project. In the second phase of the Khurushkul Special Ashrayan Project, 119 multi-storey buildings have been constructed and rehabilitation activities of 3,609 more climate refugee families are nearing completion.

Senior Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dream is to improve the living standards of the landless and homeless people of the country. Her dream is being realized through this largest shelter project in the world.