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Protyasha Ashrayan Inhabitants

Unemployment, hunger force them into begging again

BSS, Dhaka
Unemployment, negligence and hunger forced the ill-fated inhabitants of an exceptional cluster village in Gazipur into their old profession of begging . again throwing them into a life of uncertainties and darkness.
Official sources said some 300 members of 70 families took shelter at Protyasha Ashrayan Project at Bandabari under Kaliakoir upazila in 2000 with a big dream, but their dream was shattered due to negligence and non-cooperation of the past four-party alliance government.
They have been passing their days in inhuman conditions since 2001, the year when the past BNP-led alliance came to power. Since then, they are being deprived of all kinds of assistance, including food, healthcare and education, and the situation forced them into begging on the streets of the capital.
"Having no alternative, we were compelled to return to our old profession and we are now begging 15 days of a month in the capital for our survival and spending the rest 15 days at the village," the inhabitants said while narrating their miseries to the news agency.
The sources said once the inhabitants, who came from Nilphamari, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts of greater Rangpur, were full-time beggars, and at least one of the family members was leprosy patient - either losing a hand or a leg
"Wc begged throughout the day in the capital streets amid scorching hit or heavy showers and spent the night in Kamalapur Railway Station and Pangu Hospital areas under die open sky till January 27, 2000," said Matiur Rahman, president of the project.
Considering their sufferings as well as disabilities, the previous Awami League government, especially Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, came forward to
rehabilitate them and had taken steps to launch the Protyasha Ashrayan Project in which they were rehabilitated later.
The then AL government in cooperation with Bangladesh Army constructed the project on 7.92 acre khas land at Bandabari under Boali union. 15 kilometres from Kaliakoir upazila, at a cost ofTk49 lakh.
After the launching of the project in October, 2000, the sources said, the inhabitants were provided with food, healthcare and education. Besides, each of the family was given Tk 400 every month as daily expenditure and Tk 10,000 as loan. A pond was also excavated in die project for fish farming.
Till the 2001 general elections, they were leading more or less a happy and peaceful life. But after the polls, darkness descended on the life of the inhabitants as all facilities were stopped by the four-party alliance government, said 49-year-old Matiur, who lost two fingers of a hand to
leprosy.
He said most of the tin-shed houses of the project became unlivable as roofs, doors, windows as well as toilets were destroyed due to lack of mainte -nance and repair.
Matiur also said they are facing drinking water problem throughout the year as six to seven tubewells out of nine remain unserviceable. The only pond of the area became unusable due to lack of adequate water, he said, adding that the condition of the lone community centre is also very bad.
He said the past AL government had provided VGF and VGD cards to all of the families which ensured their food security, but after coming to power, the BNP-led alliance government stopped it
They raised their problems to the concerned authorities several times in the last seven years, but their efforts went futile as nobody bothered to solve those, he added.
Land Assistant Officer of the
area Masudul Alam Bhuiyan told the agency that the issue was raised several times at the monthly meeting of the upazila administration in the last seven years, but no concrete steps were taken.
Like Matiur, many inhabitants demanded the government arrange employment opportunity for at least one member of each of the families of the Ashrayan project, saying that, “We want work not alms, we want to live with honour."
When contacted, local parliament member and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Land Ministry AKM Mohammad Haque told BSS that the present government is very much aware of problems of the inhabitants of the project as the past AL government had initiated the project.
“The problems of the Ashrayan project will be solved very soon as the government is going to take necessary steps to this end," he said.