6,770 Rajshahi families to get brick-built houses by January

A total of 6,770 more distressed families are going to get brick-built houses in all the eight districts of the division by January next.

The homeless and landless families will be given disaster resilient houses to mark the Mujib Borsho, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The government at the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will provide them with the house to alleviate their poverty through giving shelters and human resource development activities, reports BSS.

On behalf of Asrayan Project-2 of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) has been constructing the houses, said Moinul Islam, Additional Commissioner of Rajshahi division.

Main thrust of the initiative is to improve the standard of living ensuring basic education, health care and skill development on income generating activities of the landless, homeless, distress and rootless people.

Islam said the construction of the houses is a laudable step of the government. The homeless and landless families will get their shelters to live permanently in these houses as the quality of the houses is top priority, he said.

Aminul Haque, district relief and rehabilitation officer, said each of the semi-pucca houses with two bedrooms, one kitchen, one toilet, common space and veranda will be built at a cost of Taka 1.71 lakh while floors and walls of the houses will be brick-built as the roof will be made by corrugated sheet.

Earlier, another 3,022 distressed families were given brick-built houses for the first time in the division.

The distressed people, who have at least one to ten decimal of land but no house, they were given the brick-built houses as gifts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina till June last.

The DDM has constructed the rural level houses under its Disaster Resilient House Building Project (DRHBP) that has been implemented as a rural infrastructure reconstruction programme.

Aminul Haque said each of the houses consisting two bedrooms, one kitchen, one toilet and one corridor was built at a cost of around Taka 2.58 lakh by close supervision of the respective local house building committee.

Hurzan Bibi, 54, a beneficiary of Mondalpara village under Tanore Upazila, said she was homeless and used to lead an inhuman life. She added that she has forgotten all her pain after getting a house by the government.

“After my husband died around 10 years back, I used to beg. I had to pass the night on footpath as there was no house to live in,” said Momena Khatun, 55, a widow of Kachua village under the same upazila, in a choked voice.

At present, a house has ensured her a happy life. “I had never thought, even in my dreams, that I would be able to live in such a good house,” said Kazoly Mormu, 30, wife of Buddhinath Hasda of Haldibona village under Paba Upazila.

Kazoly said they were suffering from utter poverty since their marriage. Her husband used to work as a day-labourer and it was very hard for her to maintain her family let alone to make a house.

Now, after getting a house from the government, she is able to live peacefully with her husband and daughter Rita Hasda, said Kazoly.

Rita, 13, a student of class nine in the nearby Kasba High School, said the house has boosted up her level of confidence to continue her study. She expressed her deep gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the laudable initiative.

Project Implementation Officer of Godagari Upazila Abu Bashir told BSS that the houses were made colorfully and eye-catching.

He said the disaster resistant houses reveal the images of laudable and lasting development activities of the government.

As per commitment of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, all the distressed families will be brought under the disaster resilient houses in the upazila, where 24 families were already given houses, in phases.