These houses are now yours, use electricity economically: PM Hasina tells Ashrayan-2 beneficiaries

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has handed over land and houses to 18,566 landless and homeless families under the Ashrayan 2 project and urged the beneficiaries to use electricity economically.

"The houses we are providing are now your property. Therefore, the maintenance and care of these houses are your responsibility. It is essential to be economical and frugal when using electricity here," she said today during the handover ceremony of the houses across 70 upazilas.

"I congratulate those who are receiving houses," she said in her inaugural speech through a videoconference from her official residence, Ganobhaban, connecting to Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, Eidgaon upazila of Cox's Bazar, and Char Fashion upazila of Bhola.

She said, "You do not have to spend any money on what you are receiving. However, you must treat it as your own property."

Besides, the PM declared 70 more upazilas, including all upazilas of 26 districts, free from landless and homeless people.

With this declaration, the total number of landless and homeless-free districts has reached 58, and the number of landless and homeless-free upazilas has increased to 464 across the country.

The houses were constructed under the government's flagship housing programme, the Ashrayan-2 Project, to ensure housing for all.

Yesterday, the prime minister distributed 1,282 houses in Lalmonirhat, 261 in Cox's Bazar, and 1,234 in Bhola districts.

Earlier, she distributed 63,999 houses in the first phase, 53,330 in the second, 59,133 in the third, and 39,365 in the fourth phase of the Ashrayan-2 Project across the country.

Under the project, each landless and homeless family is provided with a semi-pucca house on two decimals of land, with ownership jointly granted to both husband and wife. Each house has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a veranda.