Among the many positive initiatives taken by the current regime, the Ashrayan project has been among the most important.
While homelessness and landlessness is an expected but unfortunate outcome of having such a large population, there is no reason to believe that, slowly but steadily, we cannot eliminate this problem from within Bangladesh altogether.
This is why it is so heartening to see district after district being declared as homeless-free and landless-free, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about to declare 12 more districts with that distinction after handing over a further 22,101 homes under the project earlier this week.
The fact that hundreds of thousands of homes have been distributed under the project -- the total number under Ashrayan-II scheme is at 238,851 -- is a testament to the commitment made by the authorities with regard to putting a roof over the heads of every Bangladeshi.
While the end goal remains far away, and homelessness remains a major issue, in particular with regard to those poorer in more urban regions, what cannot be denied is that it is more of these projects that Bangladesh requires as it paves its path to prosperity.
If we are to indeed become the nation we want to be by 2041, tackling poverty and homelessness will be one of our major challenges. We hope the government continues to chalk out progressive policies to not only get more and more people off the street and into homes, but also creates opportunities where they never have to fear not having a roof over their heads ever again.