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middle and middle-class people, it became an apartment project for the upper class.”

The government will have to take up housing projects that will be affordable for all, and flats will have to be constructed in different sizes. Although authorities are constructing some housing projects for the lower-income people, it’s not enough when compared to the demand, he added.

Contacted, Ujjwal Mallick, chief engineer of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said three types of flats will be constructed in the Purbachal apartment project for limited-, middle- and high-income people.

The size of flats will be from 1,500 to 3,500 square feet. Besides, 400-500 square feet flats will also be constructed for low-income people. All buildings will be between 20-storey and 30-storey high, he said.

Habib recommended the government create land banks instead of constructing apartments, and provide flats through a competitive management system, involving private developers, so that people can get apartments in different categories at affordable prices.

In rural areas, the government will have to provide loans at low interest, so people can construct buildings by their own, taking land from the land bank, he said.

Lack of land bank is the main crisis, and the government can solve this issue, he said. When someone builds their own house, they will get ownership and be able to maintain construction quality at an affordable cost.

Suggesting authorities should intervene in the land sector, Adil said the government should have taken initiatives to increase its land supply.

“Our housing policy mentions ensuring social housing. In developed countries, there are many such projects. The government does not have the capacity to start a social housing project in a larger scale, but they can do it through a private-public partnership model,” he said.

Also, authorities will have to take steps to curb the monopoly of big housing companies, which are hiking the price of plots. They should also limit ownership capacity of such housing companies, so that they cannot take ownership of huge amounts of land, he added.

Besides, authorities will have to take initiative for housing projects outside Dhaka, Adil said. Instead of initiating projects in only a few major cities, such housing plans should be taken in all the district cities.

“The government is taking up mega projects, but it will have to prioritise projects that are building housing for the poor, who are affected by natural disasters,” he added.

Both Habib and Adil criticised the quality of government-constructed flats.

Habib said many buildings are being made across the country under the government’s initiative, but their quality is not up to mark.

Adil said the Ashrayan project is a good initiative, but poor quality of the buildings should be looked into.

To modernise major cities of the country and ensure their planned growth, master plans of various duration are being prepared, Mustafa Kamal said. For example, the preparation of Detailed Area Plan by Rajuk for the period of 2016-2035, and of Chattogram Metropolitan Master Plan by Chattogram Development Authority for the period of 2020-2041 are underway.

Similar master plans will be prepared for other major cities, the minister said in his budget speech.

Following directives of the prime minister, the government is formulating and implementing projects to increase housing facilities of government officials and employees, from 8 percent of facilities to 40 percent, he said.

Rajuk has so far constructed 6,636 apartments in 379 high-rise buildings in Uttara Sector-18 and 380 apartments in nine high-rises on abandoned lands in Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Lalmatia and Mohammadpur, said officials.