The government plans to spend more than Tk200crore to build a residential complex in Dhaka’s Jigatola area for government employees, as a severe shortage of official accommodation continues to force most employees to rent private homes.
The proposed project, primarily targeting employees in grades 10 to 12, will be placed for approval at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) scheduled for 25 October, according to sources at the committee.
The Planning Commission’s Physical Infrastructure Division has recommended approval of the project, initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
Under the proposal, three 13-storey residential buildings will be constructed on the sites of four six-storey buildings at the Jigatola government housing colony, which have been declared risky and abandoned, and three demolished buildings at the Gabtola housing colony.
Two of the new buildings will each have 88 flats, while the third will have 48, taking the total to 224 flats. Each flat will cover 850 square feet.
Govt housing meets only 14 per cent of demand
The ministry’s project proposal, citing 2023 data from the Directorate of Government Accommodation, said Dhaka had 2,50,205 government employees across different grades.
Their actual demand for flats stood at 1,28,510, equivalent to around 50.77 per cent of the total workforce. However, only 17,503 flats were available for allocation, meeting just 13.62 per cent of the actual demand.
This leaves a housing shortage of around 86 per cent, forcing most government employees to rent private accommodation, the proposal said.
It added that private housing rents were expensive relative to government employees’ incomes, while standard accommodation was not always available. Ensuring safe, modern and affordable housing has therefore become a priority, according to the ministry.
The project specifically aims to improve housing access for employees in grades 10 to 12.
According to the proposal, Dhaka has 41,093 government employees in these grades. Their demand for Type D-2 flats stands at 20,000, but only 4,252 flats are available for allocation.
The resulting shortage for this group is around 78.74 per cent, the proposal said.
The ministry said the new residential complex would expand access to quality housing while ensuring better use of government land.
The project proposal also noted that the sites are currently vacant and could be vulnerable to encroachment because of inadequate management. Developing the land would help protect government property and ensure its proper use, it added.
Recommending the project for approval, the Planning Commission’s Physical Infrastructure Division said implementation would provide government employees with improved housing facilities and was expected to help the government obtain better services from them.
