Allocation for each Ashrayan home raised by Tk40,000

The government has changed the design and raised the allocation for a housing project meant for the poor and said to be a gift from the prime minister to the homeless.  

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Tuesday raised the allocation for the Ashrayan-2 project by Tk4,826 crore to around Tk11,142 crore.

With the project revised for the fourth time, now the allocation for each house is Tk2.40 lakh from the previous Tk2 lakh.

"We needed more than Tk6,000 crore for the project as allocation for each unit has been raised," Md Mamun-Al-Rashid, member (secretary) of the Physical Infrastructure Division at the Planning Commission, told journalists.

"Besides, spendings in several sectors such as salaries, allowances and VAT have increased, eventually pushing up the project cost," he added.

In 2021, more than 1.17 lakh families got homes from the government in two phases. The scheme was entirely funded by the Prime Minister's Office and the poor were provided with the houses as a gift from the prime minister commemorating the "Mujib Borsho".

Soon after the handover, the homes crumbled in several districts and pictures of wobbly and flimsy houses grabbed the headlines. Subsequent inquiries found lands chosen for the houses were not suitable and the allocation for each home was too inadequate.

After Tuesday's Ecnec meeting, journalists were told that more than 4.85 lakh poor families will get homes under the project. The government will build a total of 5,149 pucca barracks, 5,078 corrugated-iron sheet barracks in char areas and 4,393 semi-pucca barracks. There will also be 60 multistory buildings across the country.

Ashrayan project-2 was approved by the Ecnec in 2010 with an estimated cost of 1,169 crore. The project cost was revised twice later after raising the number of beneficiaries. The project was revised for the fourth time on Tuesday.

Tuesday's Ecnec meeting approved ten projects – seven revised and three new – with a total of Tk18,032 crore.

While replying to a query, Planning Minister MA Mannan said they had to revise many projects due to the pandemic. He also pointed out costlier construction materials, land acquisition issues, terms by foreign development partners and bureaucratic tangles of the partners for project revision multiple times.

The meeting also approved a Tk2,490 crore project to develop key road infrastructures of Chattogram. The project, aiming to increase various civic facilities in the port city, will be completed by December 2024.

Other projects approved in the meeting are "Building Logistics and Fleet Maintenance Facilities for Bangladesh Coast Guard (1st revision)" with an additional cost of Tk135.94 crore, "Upgradation of Kumargaon-Badaghat-Airport Road to National Highway to 4-Lane" with Tk727.63 crore, "Modernisation, Digitisation and Automation of Bangladesh Television's Central Broadcasting System (Phase 1) (1st revision)" with an additional cost of Tk35.68 crore, "Mobile Game and Application Skill Development (3rd revision)" with an additional cost of Tk48.28 crore, "Polder 43/1 and 44 Rehabilitation under Barguna District and Prevention of Risky Parts from Erosion of Payra River" with Tk751.29 crore, "Erosion Prevention of Brahmaputra River in Chilmari and Ulipur Upazilas of Kurigram District" (1st revision) with an additional cost of Tk145.71 crore, "Basic and Applied Research on the Jute (3rd revision)" with an additional cost of Tk6.92 crore and "Bepza Economic Zone, Mirsarai-1st Phase (1st revision)" with an additional cost of Tk552.32 crore.