The government has decided to construct two room flats for city/town shanty dwellers.
This will be part of a ‘National Urban Poverty Reduction Programme’ and has been passed by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, ECNEC.
The total expenditure of the project will be Tk. 826 crore 12 lakh, of which, the government will give Tk. 128 crore 18 lakh and the rest, Tk. 697 crore 94 lakh will come from programme assistance given by UNDP and DFID, UK.
The local government division will implement the project in four city corporation areas and 36 zilla municipalities.
Once complete, the project will bring modern facilities to the urban poor and reduce rising climate change related risks near the coastal areas.
As part of the project, community housing development fund will also be formed, aimed at providing interest free, long term housing loans.
The flats will have sanitation, drainage, approach roads and other amenities.
Planning ministry sources say that under this project, five thousand extreme poor families will be given two room flats while fifteen thousand will be given accommodation facilities through home loans under Community Housing Development Fund.
The project will also provide maternal education, waste management training, nutrition awareness, education support to drop outs etc.
Secretary to the local government division, Jafar Ahmed Khan, told Bangla Tribune: “the government has taken a project to reduce urban poverty and once it’s implemented, lives of many will improve.”