Project to infuse dynamism into rural economy: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the main objective of her government's 'One House, One Farm' (Ekti Bari, Ekti Khamar) project is to infuse dynamism into the rural economy by making each family economically self-reliant.
“We have launched the project with an aim to add to the economic activities in the rural areas to alleviate poverty turning the huge population into human resources ensuring optimum use of land,” she said.
The prime minister was addressing a function after power point presentation on the activities of the “Ekti Bari, Ekti Khamar” project at her office in the city.
Hasina who initiated the project during her previous tenure as the PM said the objective of her government is to make the common people self-reliant, providing them with health services and ensuring their shelter. She said her government is working relentlessly to this end.
She said under the project, small and medium sized agro-based industry can be flourished at union and village levels and non-government organisations can be involved in this process, if necessary.
Hasina said as Bangladesh is a home to huge population with its limited land boundary the government took this project to turn the population into human resources through ensuring maximum utilisation of land and inspiring the population to be hard working and production-oriented.
Keeping this in mind, she said her government during its previous tenure initiated the program to create self-employment facilities through small and cottage industries in the rural areas and to prevent the rural people to migrate to the urban areas.
She directed the field level officials to motivate the people to produce vegetables and other food items on the fellow land of their homestead in order to change their fate.
The PM directed the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to facilitate marketing of their produce through cooperative societies as it would be cost effective for the small farmers to send their small produce to the town individually.
Under the system, workers of the cooperative society will collect the additional produce from the houses of the farmers and process the food items before marketing which could help increase our export basket, she said.
Hasina said her government has a plan to provide modern residential facilities for the village people building dwelling houses in some areas of the village and agro farms on other areas to ensure maximum utilisation of arable land.
She called upon all concerned to take coordinated efforts to implement the “Ekti Bari- Ekti Khamar” programme for the economic benefit of the rural people. The PM said apart from this, her government has launched “Ashrayan” and “Ghore Phera” projects to provide shelter for the poor.
Referring to construction of the Union Parishad (UP) Complex, she said her previous government initiated the project to construct UP complex aiming at providing one stop service to reduce sufferings of people.
Mentioning various pro-people programmes of her government for strengthening rural economy, she said it has given collateral-free loan to sharecroppers to boost production.
Besides, she said her government has introduced internet service in all post offices and provided computer for educational institutions to improve living standard of rural people. “The goal of our government is to bring economic solvency of the rural people,” she added.
Hasina said her present government is working relentlessly to reach the fruits of independence to the people. She expressed the hope that celebration of the golden jubilee of independence of the country would take place in a hunger and poverty-free Bangladesh.
Finance Minister A M A Muhith, Planning Minister A K Khandakar, Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives Advocate Rahmat Ali and State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak also addressed the function while Secretary of the Ministry Rokeya Sultana gave address of welcome.
Besides, Director General of Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) M Humayun Khaled made a power point presentation on the activities of the project at the function attended by district cooperative officers and Deputy Directors of BRDB across the country.
The Rural Development and Cooperatives Division has been implementing the project through BRDB, Cooperative Division, BARD, Comilla and RDA, Bogra. The project cost has been estimated at Tk 1,197.00 crore.