Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday handed over 18,566
more houses to the homeless and landless families as gift before Eid across the
country under the government's flagship housing programme Ashrayan-2 project to
ensure housing for all.
She distributed the homes along with the ownership documents
of land among the beneficiaries through a video-conferencing from a function at
her official Ganabhaban residence. "We're providing the houses as Eid
gift," the prime minister said. She also announced 70 more upazilas of 26
districts landless-and-homeless-free by handing over the houses under the
second stage of the fifth phase of Ashrayan-2 Prakalpa, raising the number of
landless and homeless free districts to 58 and the upazilas to 464 across the
country. Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, Eidgaon upazila of Cox's Bazar and
Char Fashion upazila of Bhola were virtually connected to the house’s
distribution ceremony. The prime minister provided 1,282 houses in Lalmonirhat,
261 in Cox's Bazar and 1,234 in Bhola districts. Earlier, she distributed
63,999 houses in the first phase, 53,330 in the second phase, 59,133 in the
third phase and 39,365 in the fourth phase of the Ashrayan-2 Prakalpa across
the country. Under the project, each of the landless and homeless families is
being given a semi-pucca house on two decimals of land with the ownership in
the name of both husband and wife. Each house consists of two bedrooms, one
kitchen, one toilet and veranda. According to the project details, a total of
266,012 landless and homeless families were rehabilitated in the first, second,
third, fourth and the first stage of the fifth phases of the Ashrayan-2
Prakalpa.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
introduced the rehabilitation programme for homeless people in 1972. Following
the footprints of Bangabandhu, her daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took
the initiative to provide ownership of houses and lands to the homeless and
landless people through the Ashrayan project in 1997. Under the Ashrayan
project, a total of 771,301 families have been rehabilitated so far since 1997.
The number of rehabilitated people is 3,856,505 (estimated as five persons in a
family). So far 4,340,000 people of 867,904 landless and homeless families have
been rehabilitated under the Ashrayan and other programmes across the country
while 2,910,265 people of 582,053 landless and homeless people have been
rehabilitated under the Ashrayan Prakalpa only, the document said. PM's
Principal Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah moderated the house distribution
programme. The prime minister later exchanged views with the beneficiaries. A
video documentary on the house schemes was also screened on the occasion.
