Amar Bari Amar Khamar project popularly known as Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar, one of the dream initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, appeared to be blessings for 4,70,556 distressed people changing their livelihood and living standard in 13 upazilas of Mymensingh district.
The project is now being run through Palli Sanchay Bank and the poorest people of the areas become self-dependent through bank loan assistance and necessary trainings. Even, many of them are becoming small entrepreneurs.
District (regional) senior officer of the project Md Humayun Kabir said Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar project is the first among the ten special initiatives of the premier and the activities of the project began in 2009.
A total of 10,053 samities were formed across the district thanks to the project while the number of its members is about 4,70,000, he added.
He said a total of Taka 1283.42 crore and 86,000 have been distributed among the members through Palli Sanchay Bank under the project.
In fact, the aim of the project is to make the distressed people self-dependent through providing loan assistance and necessary trainings, Kabir continued.
He informed that they are providing essential advices and directives to the members.
Selina, one of the beneficiaries of the project, was married off at her early age. Her husband Abdur Rashid was an x-ray operator at a local private clinic and he had low salary. It was really tough for Selina to run her family with the poor income of her husband.
But Selina continued her education though she was married off at her early age. At last she did her honours and started to search a job. But she didn't get any job. She was determined that she will have to do something for her family.
Selina said she started the journey of changing her life along with seven poor and distressed women in 2007.
She bought a swing machine by her savings and took training from Jubo Unnoyan and started tailoring at her home along with seven more women, she added.
They began selling cloths in shops of different local markets and her income has increased gradually. Later, she opened a shop of handicraft named 'Icche Ghuri' in front of her residence in where she sold different types of handicrafts and cloths of children.
Once, she took a stall at Unnayan Mela on the premises of Muktagacha upazila parishad and she founded the stall of Palli Sanchay Bank just beside her shop. She got encouraged by knowing of different facilities and loan assistance and started a new journey through forming Ishwargram Nandi Bari Mohila Samity. In the beginning, there were only 43 members of the samity.
Selina invested Taka 10,000 through taking loan from the Palli Sanchay Bank. Later, she took Taka 50,000 after paying previous loan and started her business on a large scale. She sold the cloths at different shops and earned handsome money. —BSS
