Photo: Messenger
A concerning irregularity has been uncovered in the Ashrayan housing project in Dhunat, Bogura, where individuals who already own houses have been allotted additional homes under the project meant for the landless and homeless.
In the Shimulbari Ashrayan project area of Bhandarbari Union, it has been observed that some beneficiaries do not reside in the houses allocated to them. Instead, these houses remain locked, or in some cases, have been sold, while the beneficiaries continue to live in their own homes elsewhere.
This misallocation has resulted in genuine landless and homeless families being deprived of the opportunity to secure a home through the Ashrayan project. Despite this, the administration has made claims to the contrary.
A notable example is the case of the couple Rehena and Khajur Ali, who own land and a tin-shed house where they reside. Despite this, they have been allotted a house in the Ashrayan project by falsely declaring themselves landless. Their allocated house remains locked, and similar situations are seen with the houses given to other couples like Mahmud and Nurnahar, and Kakuli and Aminur.
Out of the 17 houses in the Shimulbari Ashrayan project, 7 are found to be locked, and many of those living in the houses have done so without official allocations, having purchased the houses from others. This issue is not limited to Shimulbari but is reportedly prevalent across all Ashrayan projects in the upazila.
The Ashrayan project in Dhunat upazila was initiated with the construction of 399 houses, gifted by the Prime Minister to landless and homeless families as part of the Mujib Year celebrations. Each house, costing approximately Tk 200,000, was designed to include two rooms, a kitchen, a toilet, electricity, and safe drinking water, along with a deed for two decimal lands.
However, a visit to various Ashrayan project areas revealed that a significant number of houses are locked and unoccupied, with bushes growing around them, trash accumulating, and straw and firewood stored inside. Local sources indicate that the intended beneficiaries of the Prime Minister's gift houses—the genuinely landless and homeless—were overlooked, and the houses were instead allotted to those with existing homes and land, often without proper verification. Many of these allottees have chosen not to live in the houses or have sold them off.
This situation highlights a critical need for a review of the allotment process to ensure that the Ashrayan housing project reaches those who are truly in need, fulfilling its intended purpose of providing shelter to the landless and homeless.
Messenger/Disha
