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BRDB projects in Jhenidah

Helping assetless women

From Delwar Kabir
BHENIDAH, July 5: Basanti Rani, Dilara Begum and all other members of Kushna Bazarpara Mahila Bittahin Samabaya Samifi (MBSS) can sign their name now, said Basanti Rani, 28, of village Kushna in Kotchandpur thana of Jhenidah district.
Basanti, a mother of two children took Taka 22 thousand .as loan for her society she works with from Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) under Rural Poor Credit Project (RPCP) in Kotchandpur thana in 'the fiscal year 1993-94. They received the money against their 17-member society which is locally known as 'samity' and returned the money within a year.
The society further received a loan of Taka 71 thousand last year against their small trade in the village like selling bamboo and cane and for other purposes. Each member of the samity earns Taka between 60 and 65 daily with their business, said another member of the samity, Dilara Begum, 25. She said that everybody in their society can sign their names and they are trying to stand on own.
Balarampur Mahila Bittahin Samabaya Samiti (MBSSJ is also showing its good performances of self-help in the rural areas. While visiting, this correspondent saw some women, most of whom are widows, engaged in paddy husking and other similar jobs.
Shahar Banu, who is in her mid twenties and the manager of the said MBSS from village Balarampur, said that her society took a sum of Taka 33 thousand in 1993 and after recovery of the money she again drew Taka 55 thousand for paddy husking. Now each member of her society is earning between Taka 60 to 65 daily against small services. But earlier, Shahar Banu informed that she had to pass the days in hardship as her husband was a day labourer who could hardly afford a meal or two a day. After realising the money she was gradually able to remove poverty from her family with her small but satisfactory
earnings. Above all this Banu showed courage in earning for the family. Now she has been constructing a pucca building on a small piece of land in the village Balarampur.
Md Seraj Uddin Biswas, Thana Project Officer (TPO . RPCP, under BRDB informed The Daily Star that in 1993 they started functioning in Kotchandpur thana with tneir small capital of Taka 3,089 only and after just three years their capital increased to Taka more than four lakh.
The TPO also informed that they have been giving loans among the distressed women specially the widows and divorced women who were really neglected in the society. Now RPCP activities of BRDBjs extended in 76 villages of Kotchandpur thana out of total of 112 villages. Number of loanee societies were 57. the TPO added. He also informed that all six union parishads (UPs) including Kotchandpur pourasabha were brought under the project. Now total members of RPCP is 1,186, it was leamt.
The Thana Project Officer said that poverty alleviation in rural areas is the main object of BRDB and to make all the programmes a success they nad been working in remote areas and collecting data. In Kotchandpur thana they have been giving loans against small trade, beef fat-
tening, rickshaw-vans, bamboo and cane, 'chira' or dry flattened rice preparation, paddy husking, goat purchasing, tailoring and cow rearing, the TPO further informed
About 736 people have been provided with loans worth about Taka 12 lakh this year, it was also leamt.
Debashish Kundu, a field organiser of RPCP told that they do not allow any loan or credit support for those women who have more than two children. Here, the organ-. isation is also campaigning in favour of Family Planning (FP) programmes to form happy families among the society members. Debashish also informed that they are running their activities abreast other societies or NGOs.
The Thana Project Officer further informed that with regard to' activities of BRDB, Kotchandpur thana was declared as the best thana during last six months in Jhenidah and Magura districts. ■The TPO further informed that the BRDB employees are also engaged in sanitation, mass education, and tree plantation programmes in respective areas. Each of the society members were given a sapling free of cost, which will help grow consciousness about tree plantation among them, he added.