"This saving helped me ensure my dignity and I became self-reliant within a year," said Nur, a 16-year-old street child-turned-skilled tailoring assistant.

The savings also enabled him to arrange employment for his physically challenged brother Nesar and support his whole family, Nur said.

There are about 2 lakh street children in Dhaka, according to Appropriate Resources for Improving Street Children's Environment -- a joint project of the ministry of social welfare and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).

Nur, who spent eight years on the streets, said street children often spend their earnings as soon as possible as they are afraid of being mugged or of having their money stolen while they sleep. There is no secure way for these children to save their money for the future. Even the ones living in slums have no reliable means to save.

"If there were a specialised bank for vulnerable workers and street children, they could get a chance to save their earnings for their future," Nur said.

Nur ran away from a Madrasa in Narayanganj eight years ago and embraced a rough life on the streets of Dhaka. He struggled to make a living here. "I sometimes worked as a painter, sometimes whatever else I could find," he said.

He was arrested once by police during his days on the streets and was confined to a vagrant shelter home at Mirpur.

A non-government organisation (NGO) named Aparajeyo Bangladesh provided legal and other aid to Nur during his confinement at the vagrant shelter and took him into their custody later.

Nur was later introduced to a money deposit facility for street children called the "Child Development Bank" organised by Aparajeyo Bangladesh.

Nur said, "Ten months ago, I withdrew a total of Tk 17 thousand from the bank that I had deposited daily since the bank was launched in September, 2004. This savings helped me open a tailoring shop in Narayanganj where my physically challenged brother is the master tailor and I am his assistant."

He picked up several technical skills including tailoring during his days on the streets and only needed funds and a place to start his own venture.

Nur finally found a way to make his dream come true by saving up his earnings when the NGO launched the savings scheme for street children on September 1, 2004.

Basudev Moitra, country director of the bank, told Star City that the bank offered only savings facilities and did not offer loans.

When asked about the legal grounds for operating the bank, he said, "Our goal is to establish a specialised bank for empowering the working street children financially and socially. We received approval from the NGO Bureau to receive deposits from street children."

Basudev said, "The members (street children) operate the bank on their own and keep track of transactions. We only helped them by launching the special bank two and half years ago and now the children are reaping the benefits."

The funds saved up by the children would help them lay the groundwork for their establishment in the society, he added.