Freedom fighters to get 30,000 homes in Mujib Year

The government has taken an initiative to build 30,000 homes for the insolvent freedom fighters and their family members.

The homes will be given to them as a gift on the occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the country's independence, according to the project proposal.

The project titled “Bir Nibash” under a Tk4, 122.98 crores. The homes will be constructed in 64 districts.  

 The construction for the homes will be headed by the Liberation War Affairs ministry by June 2023. The ministry is set to put the project proposal before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council’s next week meeting for approval.

The project would help the freedom fighters and their families to become economically solvent and uplift social status, officials of the Liberation War Affairs Ministry said citing the project proposal.

Earlier, the government had a plan to build multi-storied buildings for 14,000 freedom fighters, but the decision has been revised, constructing 30,000 homes, said the officials.

The plan has been revealed after the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, at a programme in Dhaka on February 15 announced that the existing monthly payoffs of the valiant freedom fighters would be increased from 12,000 to 20,000.

At present, about 2, 05,206 valiant freedom fighters are getting the allowance. Of them, the families of martyred war heroes are receiving Tk 30,000 each a month, while those of war-wounded ones are getting Tk 25,000 each.

The families of the seven Bir Shresthas, the country's highest gallantry award, receive Tk 35,000 each while recipients of Bir Uttam award get Tk 25,000, Bir Bikram Tk 20,000, and Bir Pratik Tk 15,000. The rest of the valiant freedom fighters get Tk 12,000 each.

Wounded valiant freedom fighters get free medical care and those without homes get housing. They also receive five festival bonuses from the government.

Earlier, the government handed over 2,900 houses to valiant landless freedom fighters across the country.