Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said the government is working to ensure civic amenities for all the rural people throughout the country.

“We will bring every village under the coverage of civic amenities and the people of every village will enjoy the civic amenities,” she said.

The prime minister said this while handing over 18,566 more houses among the homeless and landless families across the country under the Ashrayan-2 project on Tuesday, five days before Eid-ul-Azha.

She opened the distribution of the houses along with ownership documents through a videoconference from her official residence Ganabhaban, connecting to Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, Eidgaon upazila of Cox’s Bazar, and Charfesson upazila of Bhola.

On behalf of Sheikh Hasina, the public representatives and field administration handed over the houses constructed under the government’s flagship housing programme, Ashrayan-2 Project, aiming to ensure housing for all.

Besides, the prime minister 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 gone up to 464 across the country.

About the Ashrayan-2 project beneficiaries, the prime minister said the houses have brought a great change in their lives. “Confidence and self-dignity have returned among them. It is most important to develop this country.”

Talking about the recent cyclone-hit people, Sheikh Hasina said thousands of people were affected by Cyclone Remal. The government has already prepared area-wise lists of the houses which were completely or partially damaged.

She said the government will construct new homes in case of completely damaged houses and extend support to reconstruct the partially damaged houses.

“We are beside the people affected by this natural disaster. We have been doing what they need initially. I would like to say that you do not need to worry. Inshallah, I will make arrangements so that everyone can construct your houses.”

Regarding agricultural production, the prime minister said her government has increased food production and has taken steps for food and nutrition security in the country.

She asked all not to keep even an inch of land uncultivated and practise austerity in the use of electricity and water.

On Tuesday, the prime minister distributed 1,282 houses in Lalmonirhat, 261 in Cox’s Bazar, and 1,234 in Bhola districts. She exchanged views with beneficiaries through the videoconference.

PM’s Principal Secretary M Tofazzel Hossain Miah conducted the function.

Earlier, the prime minister distributed 63,999 houses in the first phase, 53,330 in the second phase, 59,133 in the third phase, 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 consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a veranda.

The rehabilitation programme for homeless people was initially introduced by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1972.

Following that PM Hasina initiated the Ashrayan Project in 1997 to provide ownership of houses and lands to homeless and landless people.

Since its inception, the Ashrayan Project has rehabilitated a total of 771,301 families, benefiting an estimated 3,856,505 individuals. Across all programmes, 43,40,000 people from 867,904 families have been rehabilitated, including 29,10,265 people from 582,053 families under the Ashrayan Project.