Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has distributed 18,566 houses to homeless and landless families across the country under the Ashrayan-2 project, just five days before Eid-ul-Azha. The distribution ceremony took place on Tuesday, with the Prime Minister inaugurating the process via videoconference from her official residence, Ganabhaban. The event connected to Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, Eidgaon upazila of Cox’s Bazar, and Char Fashion upazila of Bhola.
During the ceremony, the Prime Minister also declared 70 additional upazilas, including all upazilas from 26 districts, free from landlessness and homelessness. This brings the total number of landless and homeless-free districts to 58 and the number of upazilas to 464 nationwide.
Under the government’s flagship housing initiative, the Ashrayan-2 Project aims to ensure housing for all. On this occasion, 1,282 houses were distributed in Lalmonirhat, 261 in Cox’s Bazar, and 1,234 in Bhola districts.
This initiative builds on previous distributions where the Prime Minister handed over 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 Project.
Each beneficiary family receives a semi-pucca house on two decimals of land, with ownership jointly granted to both husband and wife. Each house includes two bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a veranda.
The rehabilitation program for homeless people was originally introduced by the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in 1972. Prime Minister Hasina revived the effort with the Ashrayan project in 1997, aiming to provide homes and land ownership to the homeless and landless.
Since the project’s inception, a total of 771,301 families have been rehabilitated, benefiting approximately 3,856,505 individuals. Across all programs, 4,340,000 people from 867,904 families have received homes, including 2,910,265 people from 582,053 families under the Ashrayan Project.
