A text message changed his life

"I've been living in different places in different houses with my mother since my childhood. We have no land and no house to call our own. We are a family of five, and we need a house. I'll be forever grateful if the prime minister gives me one."

This was the text message that Babu Mia, a person with speech and hearing impairment from Magura's Shree Rampur, sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a couple of years ago.

And his wish was fulfilled. Last year, Babu got a house under the Ashrayan scheme.

Babu's life has been one of continuous struggles. A second-year student at Magura Adarsha College, he narrated his story of overcoming obstacles to this correspondent.

"My father died in a road accident when I was a child. My mother took me and my younger brother to live with our grandfather after my father's death," he recalls, from his early years.

"My mother and brother got jobs in garment factories in Dhaka. My grandmother used to take care of me until she passed away in a road accident as well."

Babu informed that his uncles are not financially well-off to take him in.

"There is no one in the world to look out for me," he said.

After sending the text to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Babu also wrote a letter to the prime minister. The PMO then sent a letter to Magura deputy commissioner's office, asking the DC to arrange a house for him.

Magura Deputy Commissioner Ashraful Alam traced Babu following the address mentioned in the letter to the PMO. As part of the "Mujib Borsho" celebrations, he was gifted with a two-room house right on the main road of the town.

Babu, who also has problems walking, can now go to college without any difficulties.

Moniruzzaman, assistant land officer at Ichhakhada land office, gave a peek into Babu's everyday life to this correspondent.

"He does the chores himself. His mother and brother send Tk 5,000-6,000 every month from Dhaka for his sustenance. Occasionally, when he needs something, he texts us, and we try to help him in any way we can," said Moniruzzaman.

Although there is no tube-well system with the semi-finished houses of Ashrayan-2 project, there is one with Babu's house. The house also has some plants in front of it, including a mango tree.

"The house was handed over to his mother in September last year," said Ashraful Islam, DC of Magura.

"Babu has a house, now all he needs is a job. If that is arranged, there will be nothing to worry about," said Zakir Hossain, a relative of Babu.

According to the Magura district administration, semi-finished houses are being constructed in different areas of Magura under the Ashrayan-2 project. The third phase of the construction is ongoing, after which, the house is expected to be more durable and disaster-tolerant than the previous ones.