Ziaul Haque, a 32-year-old physically challenged youth, is beaming. The Union Information Service Centre (UISC), set up at Huzripara under Paba upazila of Rajshahi district over two-and-a-half years back, has brought a major change in his life as he is earning a satisfactory monthly income by providing ICT-based services.
“I have earned around Taka 80,000 and Taka 85,000 in July and August by providing around 37 categories of services to people through this UISC,” he said, adding that Soniya Khatun is another entrepreneur of the centre, reports BSS.
Ziaul said he was not hopeful of making a profit out of the centre when it was launched in 2010. But, within six months a significant number of people started coming to the UISC to get various services.
In terms of earning, he now holds top position in the district and second or third place in the division of eight districts.
At the centre, alongside providing different services including agriculture, health, education and legal aid, Ziaul provides computer training to the students and unemployed youths, which greatly helped them to get better jobs.
Recently his major incomes started coming mainly from computer training, composing, scanning, printing services, photography, photocopying, online registrations, birth registrations and internet browsing, he stated.
He viewed that Union level expansion of ICT-based devices like computers, laptops, laser and color printers, projectors, modems, digital cameras, scanners, IPS, UPS and Photostat machines had been highly beneficial.
Like Ziaul Haque, many entrepreneurs of UISC across the upazila as well as the district have entered into profitable ventures and enhanced their regular incomes.
Entrepreneur of Haragram Union, Raquibul Hassan Rony, said he earned Tk47,488 in July through his centre. He expects to earn more within a short time if the existing problems are solved.
Narrating his brief working life, Rony, a third-year graduation course student of Rajshahi College, said “I want to be self-reliant through the UISC and I am very hopeful of becoming a successful entrepreneur and social contributor.”
DrBazlur Rashid, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General), said different services of the upazila administrations are available at UISCs, which are helping to save time and money of the rural people.
A total of 142 entrepreneurs including 71 females are self- employed in the USICs across the upazila and some of them had found government jobs as computer operators.
He said the UISCs have opened up scores of opportunities for people including training on Information and Communication Technology, and different job-related information.
