ED: For a roof over their heads

The Ashrayan Project -- an initiative taken by the Prime Minister’s Office -- stands as a noble undertaking which truly embodies one of the core tenets on which the nation was founded: To look after the most vulnerable amongst us, so that they too may live and thrive -- not merely survive.

Between 1997 and the end of last year, the project has been responsible for tackling one of the most saddening phenomena in our country, that of homelessness, and has successfully rehabilitated over 300,000 landless and homeless families with housing.

That is not all: Rehabilitated families are subsequently receiving training on awareness and income-generating skills, further propagating a culture of sustainable development.

What is even more encouraging about the project is that it is one that is meant to continue: Most recently, as part of Ashrayan-2, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over 66,189 houses with plans to rehabilitate over 250,000 homeless and landless families.

Such initiatives provide long-term avenues through which people can lift themselves out of the endless cycle of poverty, and nurture better futures for themselves and their children.

It is also instrumental in meeting one of the SDGs by 2030, which aims to alleviate poverty and, eventually, make it a thing of the past, as it should be. At the end of the day, no country can claim progress when there are citizens within its borders who struggle every day to feed themselves.

With aims to speed up the process in order to fulfil Vision 2021, we hope that initiatives such as these are undertaken in greater capacity so that not a single man, woman, or child is left with no roof over their heads.