Ashrayan project: It’s helping Bangladesh eradicate poverty

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "Ashrayan" project has played a key role in achieving the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, gender equality and women's empowerment, among others, wrote India Today.

Her innovative project, to transform Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous country by 2041, has been able to bring about positive changes in inclusive development by aiming to provide houses for landless, homeless, and marginalised people across the country, the leading English-language magazine of India wrote in its April 15 issue.

Whereas examples of low-interest loans for land purchase are found in several countries around the world, Bangladesh becomes the first country to offer free land ownership with houses to its marginalised citizens in order to bring its backward communities into the mainstream, read the report.

"Beneficiaries under this scheme are not only provided with accommodation, but they are also provided with various training, daily allowances during training, and loans after training to make them economically self-reliant.

"The scheme includes empowering women by giving them half ownership of land and houses, providing free electricity connection, providing clean water by installing one shallow tube well for every 10 families, and providing food assistance under three months of VGF to the resettled families initially," the report added.

The magazine article also lauded Hasina's development, known as the "Sheikh Hasina model".

The "Ashrayan" project is a unique example of how a house can be a major tool for overall family welfare and social development.

The report highlighted the experience of two beneficiaries of the project.

For 30 long years, Moksedul, a brick kiln labourer, waited for a house that he could call his own.

His long-held desire has been granted, as he has been assigned a semi-furnished house in his own name.

Moksedul told India Today that he could live very well with his family now.

The "Ashrayan" project was taken up in 1997 under the leadership of Prime Minister Hasina. And since its inception, approximately 5,07,244 landless and homeless families have been rehabilitated at various stages under this shelter initiative.

Through this initiative, the society's backward community has been given access to semi-finished housing and two decimals of land.