PM to handover 66,189 houses to homeless families on Saturday

GBNEWS24 DESK//

As part of the government’s campaign to bring all landless and homeless families under housing facility, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the distribution of houses among 66,189 landless and homeless families at 10:30am on Saturday (January 23), reports BSS.

“On the occasion of the ‘Mujib Borsho’, the government has completed 66,189 houses for homeless and landless families for handing over for the first time in the world,” Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus said.

Addressing a press briefing at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), he said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the distribution ceremony virtually at 10:30am on Saturday.

Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Secretary Md Tofazzal Hossain Mia and Project Director of Ashrayan-2 Md Mahbub Hossain highlighted the project. Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Ashraful Alam Khokon and Assistant Press Secretaries Imrul Kayes and Ashraf Siddique Bitu were present in the briefing.

“The government has built 66,189 houses at a cost of Taka 1,168 crore for homeless people on the occasion of the Mujib Borsho. Some one lakh more houses will also be distributed among those people in the next month,” Dr Kaikaus said.

Besides, Ashrayan Project under the PMO rehabilitated 3,715 families by constructing 743 barracks under 44 project villages in 36 upazilas in 21 districts during the Mujib Borsho, he said.

The principal secretary said the Ashrayan Project has prepared a list of 8,85,622 families in 2020, of which 2,93,361 landless and homeless families and 5,92,261 families having 1-10 decimal land but no housing facility.

He said Ashrayan has also rehabilitated 3,20,058 landless and homeless families from 1997 to December 2020, adding, “Armed Forces Davison is constructing barracks for landless and homeless families.”

Dr Kaikaus said the Ashran-2 project (July 2010-June 2022) has a target to rehabilitate 2,50,000 landless, homeless and displaced families at a cost of Taka 4,840.28 crore, for the 250,000 families, Ashrayan has already rehabilitated 1,92,277 landless and homeless families across the country from July 2010 to June 2019. A total of 48,500 landless and homeless families have been rehabilitated in barracks while 1,43,777 families having own land (1-10 decimal) but no capacity to construct houses in semi-barracks, corrugated iron sheet barracks and specially designed houses.

He said the government also constructed 20 five-story buildings at Khurushkul in Cox’s Bazar for 600 families, who are climate refugees as a special gift by the Prime Minister, adding, “Armed Forces Division is also implementing more 119 multi-storey buildings and related activities through Detailed Project Proposal (DPP).”

Md Tafazzal Hossain Mia said members of the rehabilitated families are getting training of increasing awareness on various issues, expertise and human resource development to enable them be engaged in income-generation works.

He said the activities of the project will be accelerated further in future to alleviate poverty for fulfilling the ‘Vision 2021’ and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.