Home for Harijans

Forty-four cleaners of Barishal City Corporation, who are from Harijan community, have received flats from the local government agency.

BCC Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah inaugurated the flat handover programme in the city's Amir Kuthir area yesterday.

Expressing gratitude, the cleaners said they have been keeping the city clean for over a hundred years, but had no standard accommodation.

Cleaner Nayon from Amir Kuthir Harijan Colony said a total of 48 families live there. "We demand such flats for rest of the families too."

BCC sources said the six-storey "BCC Sebok Colony" building is going to accommodate 44 families out of the 48.

Talking to The Daily Star, Sumon Das, president of Harijan Oikya Parishad, thanked the PM for providing the cleaners with new homes.

Uttam Kumar Bhakta, a Harijan leader, said, "The city has at least 700 families from Harijan and Dalit communities in five Harijan colonies. They are living in inhumane condition. We seek such flats for all of them."

BCC Executive Engineer Abul Bashar said construction of three such buildings under a project -- BCC Sebok Colony -- at the city's Kawnia and Amir Kuthir Harijan colony started in 2015-16 fiscal at Tk 22 crore with an aim to provide residential support for 150 Harijan families in three phases.

In the first phase, 44 families were accommodated in Amir Kuthir area. The rest will get flats once the other buildings are completed in Kawnia.

Each of the 477.75 square feet flats has two bedrooms, a dining room, one kitchen and toilet. Each building also has a common space, he said, adding that residents will only have to pay utility bills. Out of the total 396 BCC cleaners, 246 are from Harijan community, said the authorities.

At the flat handover event, Mayor Serniabat told journalists that through this initiative living standards of the Harijans will improve.