Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ‘Ashrayan Project’ under which homes are built for homeless and displaced people in Bangladesh, has played a key role in achieving the goals of poverty eradication, hunger eradication, gender equality and women's empowerment, among others, India’s leading English-language magazine India Today writes.  Her innovative Shelter Scheme, to transform Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous country by 2041, has been able to bring about positive changes in inclusive development by aiming to provide houses for landless, homeless, and marginalized people in 64 districts of the country, writes the magazine in its April 15 issue. Whereas examples of low-interest loans for land purchase are found in several countries around the world, Bangladesh becomes the first country to offer free land ownership with houses to its marginalized citizens in order to bring its backward communities into the mainstream, India Today notes.  Read: 4 lakh coastal people took refuge at Ashrayan homes during Sitrang: PMO “Beneficiaries under this scheme are not only provided with accommodation, but they are also provided with various training, daily allowances during training, and loans after training to make them economically self-reliant,” the report states.  “The scheme includes empowering women by giving them half ownership of land and houses, providing free electricity connection, providing clean water by installing one shallow tube well for every 10 families, and providing food assistance under three months of VGF to the resettled families initially,” it reads.  The India Today report also lauded PM Hasina’s development, known as the "Sheikh Hasina model". The 'Ashrayan Project' is a unique example of how a house can be a major tool for overall family welfare and social development. Read: Ashrayan Project: Govt thoroughly scrutinizing “irregularities” In its report, India Today highlighted the experience of two beneficiaries of the project. For 30 long years, Moksedul, a brick kiln labourer, waited for a house that he could call his own.  His long-held desire has been granted, as he has been assigned a semi-furnished house in his own name. Moksedul told India Today that he can live very well with his family now.  Meanwhile, sixty-five-year-old Piara Begum is a resident of Patharghata in Barguna who lost her family home to the river thirty years ago.  Read: No laxity in costruction of Ashrayan houses to be tolerated: Project Director She used to live with her husband on the banks of the river until he died of cancer 16 years ago. “Finally, Piara Begum's misery has come to an end after she is allotted a house built by the Bangladesh government on the occasion of ‘Mujib centenary’ under the ‘Ashrayan' scheme.” India Today writes.  “I have been suffering all my life. I never dreamed of a house. Now, I have got a semi-furnished house with land. The prime minister has given me a house. I am very happy. As long as I live, I will pray for the prime minister,” she told India Today. The “Ashrayan” project was undertaken in 1997 under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. And since its inception, approximately 5,07,244 landless and homeless families have been rehabilitated at various stages under this shelter initiative.  Read More: I’m everyone’s PM irrespective of party affiliation, says Hasina Through this initiative, the society's backward community has been given access to semi-finished housing and two decimals of land.

The World University of Leadership and Management has awarded Youth Bangla Global Foundation chairperson and noted philanthropist Seema Hamid an honorary doctorate degree for her contribution to social development. Chancellor of the university Randi D. Ward, handed over the degree to Seema Hamid at a ceremony in Dubai, UAE, on Saturday. Read more: Kumar Nadesan only Sri Lankan among 27 selected globally to receive India’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award Four people were awarded doctorate degrees at the ceremony. Among them, two each were awarded honorary doctorate degrees and professional degrees for their contributions in various fields, according to a press release. Seema Hamid has been awarded with the special honour for her social service and significant contributions to women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship and leadership development, employment creation, and environmental activism. Seema Hamid has been awarded by various local and international institutions for her role in social service, women’s empowerment, and leadership development. Read more: Anti-Corruption Award: US Embassy in Dhaka congratulates journalist Rozina Islam Last year, she received the Global Youth Leadership Award at the 'Global Youth Leadership Summit-2022' held in Bangkok, Thailand. She received the 'Durga Samman 2022 Award' in India for social service and women's development the same year.

Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed a $250 million loan agreement to finance reforms for improving the inclusiveness and responsiveness of the country’s social development and resilience program. Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary Fatima Yasmin and ADB country director Manmohan Parkash virtually signed the loan agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively. Read:ADB approves $250 million loan to Dhaka to finance reforms The Strengthening Social Resilience Program will include institutional and policy reforms to address cross-sector issues of social development in Bangladesh, according to a release from ADB. These include improving the coverage and efficiency of the social protection system through improving the administrative efficiency of social protection management. The program will expand its outreach to vulnerable women by increasing the coverage of both the old age allowance for women over 62 and the allowance for widowed, socially marginalized, and destitute women in 150 poverty-stricken upazilas. Read: Climate Change to get priority in Bangladesh alongside Covid support:ADB Other reforms include promoting the use of mobile financial services and simplifying identification and documentation requirements for opening a bank account and broadening the scope of social protection from mere poverty relief to life cycle social and health responses, including social insurance system. ADB will also provide a technical assistance grant to support program implementation, policy analyses, and capacity development for social development-related ministries. The technical assistance is estimated to cost $1.2 million which will be financed on a grant basis by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. “A strong social protection program, backed by the Government’s stimulus and incentive packages, largely contributed to the commendable 5.2% estimated GDP growth in fiscal year 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic,” said ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash. Read:Covid fallout: ADB lowers Bangladesh's FY21 growth forecast He said that ADB is pleased to support Bangladesh through this innovative program, in further widening, deepening, and harmonizing its social protection actions for increasing the resilience of the poor and promoting an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Building on our cross-sectoral experiences in inclusive and sustainable development, we will support Bangladesh in improving the efficiency, financial inclusion, consolidation, standardization, integration, streamlining and continuous evaluation of the social protection system,” Parkash added.