This is the first such initiative by the government for the poor people left homeless by the government eviction drives. The construction of the buildings will be financed by NGOs and the slum dwellers will pay the cost in instalments once they are allocated the flats.

A total of 7,000 to 8,000 people could be housed in the buildings to be constructed on the two pieces of land, Professor Nazrul Islam, convenor of Steering Committee for Rehabilitation Plan for Evicted Slum Dwellers, told The Daily Star on Sunday.

The steering committee comprises representatives from National Housing Authority (NAH), Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) of Dhaka University and Coalition for the Urban Poor (CUP).

The NGOs that can collect money from their donors will contribute to the process of constructing the buildings, while CUP, an umbrella organisation of the NGOs working on urban issues, will work as the coordinating agency, the urban expert noted.

"This is surely going to be a new model in Bangladesh that the government teaming up with the NGOs has taken such a step for rehabilitating the slum dwellers," Prof Nazrul, also the chairman of CUS, said.

He, however, noted that it will not be possible to accommodate all 50,000 slum dwellers evicted recently with the flats under these two projects. Those who can afford the cost of each flat of around Tk 3.5 to 4 lakh and were evicted from the slums near these project areas will be given priority in getting flats, the professor, also the chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), said.

The steering committee member and NHA Chairman Abdul Qayyum said that they have already prepared a draft agreement in this regard and will submit it to the housing ministry for approval. The implementation of the project will start once it is approved, he noted.

"In the draft, we have incorporated a provision for transferring ownership of the land to the slum dwellers once they complete paying up the instalments in 20 or 25 years," he said.

Asked on how the slum dwellers will be identified, Prof Nazrul said that the NGOs working on urban issues have lists of those who have been evicted from different slums.

He observed that there should be a plan for those who cannot afford the cost of the flats in these two housing projects. The money to be collected from the slum dwellers for allotting flats to them will be later used for other such housing projects, he added.

Prof Nazrul also said that the government should have a housing policy for the poor. "We took up the issue with the government, but they said that they are not going for any long-term policy in this regard now."

The example going to be set by these projects would, however, serve as models for the next government for accommodating the slum dwellers, one of the driving forces of the economy in the city, he added.

Housing for them should not be free of cost, Prof Nazrul observed adding that it may spawn other problems.