Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that the government introduced ‘One House, One Farm’ project to free the poor people from the clutches of loan sharks.
“We want to free the poor people from the clutches of loan sharks and ensure their agriculture-based livelihood,” she said, responding to a starred question from independent MP Haji M Selim (Dhaka-7) during the PM’s question answer session in Parliament.
Sheikh Hasina said that due to the ‘One House, One Farm’ project, some 10,38,000 families are getting benefits directly.
Mentioning that the success rate of this project is cent percent, she said the capital of these families increased to Tk 1344 crore, of which two-thirds have been given by the government. “This money remains deposited in the bank accounts of these poor people.”
The Prime Minister also mentioned that to give the project a solid base, the government has taken an initiative to create a bank, titled ‘Palli Sanchay Bank’.
This bank, as a state-run entity, will receive small amounts of deposit from the poor people that will help create investment and self-employment opportunity for the depositors, she said.
Sheikh Hasina informed that the government has a plan to expand the ‘One House, One Farm’ project in more upazilas across the country.
Currently, this project has been running in 485 upazilas of 54 districts of the country, she said.
Responding to a supplementary question of Abdus Shahid (Awami League), the Prime Minister said that the ‘Palli Sanchay Bank’ will open its branches in the areas having ‘One House, One Farm’ projects, but in phases.
“It is not possible to open all the branches at a time, this will not be viable. We will expand this phase by phase,” she said.
Source: UNB Connect
