Staff Correspondent

Prime Minister's festival gifts and financial assistance were distributed among 680 families of the Telugu and Kanpur communities residing in the Dayaganj cleaners' colony of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) on Monday on the occasion of Durga Puja.

Special financial aid was also handed over to the Puja Celebration Committee of both communities.

State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Mir Shahe Alam distributed the gifts as the chief guest at an event organized in Dayaganj.

The function was chaired by DSCC Administrator Freedom Fighter Md. Abdus Salam.

Speaking at the event, Mir jj? Shahe Alam said that during the inauguration of the 'July Monument' at Osmani Udyan on Monday morning.

The Prime Minister took immediate notice of the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations and instructed the State Minister and DSCC Administrator to share the joy of the festival directly with the city’s conservancy workers. Following her directive, they promptly visited the colony in Dayaganj.

The State Minister emphasized that members of the Telugu and Kanpur communities are primarily Bangladeshi citizens. "They cannot be discriminated against socially or deprived of state benefits merely because of their profession as sanitation workers," he stated, adding that the government upholds the principle of equal rights for all citizens regardless of ethnic or social backgrounds.

Mir Shahe Alam announced that eligible and skilled unemployed youth from the Telugu and Kanpur communities will be given priority in recruitment for DSCC’s sanitation and waste management operations. He also assured that the proposal to construct 17 residential buildings for DSCC conservancy workers would be presented to the Prime Minister for swift execution.

Presiding over the event, DSCC Administrator Md. Abdus Salam stated that concrete steps are underway to resolve the long-standing housing crisis faced by sanitation workers. Proposals have been submitted for two buildings in one location and 17 residential buildings in another.

He added that under the present administration, free healthcare services and health insurance coverage have been introduced for conservancy workers. Furthermore, in the event of accidental death during working hours, a lump-sum financial assistance of Tk 4 lakh is provided to the deceased worker’s family. Salam also assured the community that efforts would be made to solve their acute drinking water shortage and build a temple for them.

The program was attended by DSCC Chief Waste Management Officer, regional executive officers, former councillor Haji Makbul Islam Khan Tipu, along with leaders and residents of the Telugu and Kanpur communities.