Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said homelessness is indeed a curse and it affects people in both developing and developed countries, reports UNB.
She said, “Our experience shows, it is within our capacity to do something about removing this curse. All our friends and stakeholders gathered here can forge a strong partnership to make that happen.”
Sheikh Hasina said this while speaking at a high-level side event on Sustainable Housing held at her place of residence in New York. She is now in New York to attend the 77th session of the UNGA.
She said Bangladesh, being a densely populated country of 165 million people, could successfully manage the issue of homelessness.
“We’re providing the landless-homeless people houses with land free of cost,” she said.
Hasina mentioned that counting on the vision of the Father of the Nation, her government in 1997 launched a project named ‘Ashrayan’ that means housing for landless-homeless people. For the last two decades, the government has made the most sincere effort to ensure free of cost housing for all.
She mentioned that the coverage areas are not only the cities, rather it includes every village, town, district, island and hilly region of the country.
On the occasion of birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, this effort is rejuvenated with bigger standings, she added.
The Prime Minister cited that just in the last two years, the government has built 200,000 homes which accommodate nearly one million people.
During her premiership of eighteen years the government has accommodated 3.5 million homeless people in more than half a million houses. Construction of another 40 thousand houses is presently going on.
The premier said the beneficiaries of these houses are landless-homeless, beggars, day labourers, destitute women, widows, persons with disabilities, elderly-people, the victims of domestic violence, ethnic minority, third gender people, leprosy patients, sweepers, and Harijan community.
“We are addressing the climate-victim families too. We’ve already accommodated 5,000 climate-refugee families in 139 multistoried buildings in Cox’s Bazar,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina said these people are now self-employed in their own localities.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
