Mohammad Nuruzzaman, an 80-year-old man, is now living at Jummah Para Mujib Palli Ashrayan project of Gokunda union in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila. There are 65 houses in the Ashrayan project, and Nuruzzaman lives in a house (No. 10) with his wife Husna Begum, a 60-year-old woman. They have a son and a daughter, and both the children are married and have their own families. There is no one who will look after these two elderly people. 

Once, Nuruzzaman was a street hawker, and he ran his family with his earnings from this work. He was landless and homeless. Due to old age and other health complications, he cannot do any work. So, he can only understand what hardship is.

Considering the misery of his family, two years ago the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave a semi-pucca house (a tin-shed concrete house) to him with two decimals of land under the Ashrayan-2 project, a dream project of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They got the house and land with an ownership document from the government. At the same time, the couple—Nuruzzaman and Husna Begum—gets an old age allowance from the government under the social safety net programme.

Visiting their house at Jummah Para Mujib Palli Ashrayan project on Monday, this correspondent came to know that Nuruzzaman and Husna Begum are not facing any difficulty for survival. Because they produce vegetables and raise poultry on their own land and are happily living in their own house, they received it from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Under this circumstance, Nuruzzaman has not forgotten to show his gratitude to the Prime Minister.

Talking to the Daily Sun, he said, "I, along with my wife, never thought of owning a house or a piece of land. But it has been possible only for Sheikh Mujibur's daughter, our mother, Sheikh Hasina. We always pray for her."

"Now, it is our satisfaction that we are living in our own house at the last stage of our lives," Nuruzzaman added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to declare 26 more districts in the country free from landlessness and homelessness on Tuesday, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s commitment to social welfare and poverty alleviation.

“In the fifth phase of the Ashrayan Project-2, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the distribution of houses along with land to 18,566 landless and homeless families across the country,” said PM’s Assistant Press Secretary ABM Sarwer-E-Alom Sarker.

This initiative will bring the total number of districts declared landless and homeless-free to 58 out of 64 districts. The new 26 districts include Dhaka, Gopalgonj, Shariatpur, Faridpur, Netrokona, Cox’s Bazar, Chattogram, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Noakhali, Cumilla, Feni, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Sirajganj, Bogura, Satkhira, Jashore, Khulna, Narail, Bagerhat, Barguna, Barishal, Habiganj, and Sunamganj.

Sarwer Sarker also said, "This is our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's dream project to make the country completely homeless and landless-free, and it is also her commitment in the election manifesto."