Long ago, her husband left her. Without grounding down, now she is pooling herself by paddling a Rikswa, holding its metallic handle strongly and putting it into her soft palm. She is none other than Tuli Begum, a 45-year-old woman who did not give up hope and tried to come up from lifelong obstacles of society even in financial hardship. She was in a slum beside the Raipara railway line in Rajshahi Metropolis. But today, she become a house owner and even turned into a landlord having her precious gift from the prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
On Thursday night (15 February, 2024) Rajshahi City Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman (Liton) handed over a key, a gift from Prime Minister, to her after the inauguration of the first-ever Smart Bangladesh Tech Expo 2024 held at a well-equipped modernized shopping mall named Swapnachura Plaza at the silk city. This undefeated woman, rickshaw puller slum dweller Tuli Begum expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after receiving the key of the house along with the land as a gift from the Prime Minister.
State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Sylhet City Mayor Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury, Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Shamim Ahmed and BCS president engineer Subroto Sarkar were also present at this historic event.
It may be noted that, on February 10, a report was broadcast on 71 Television under the title ‘Instead of begging, Tuli is pulling a rikshaw to earn her living’.
In that report, Tuli Begum said, “It would be great for me if the government would have given me a tiny shelter house… Instead of moving from house to house, I would have lived in one place, whatever I earned, at least I wouldn’t have to worry about house rent”.
That news came to the attention of Bangabandhu’s youngest daughter Sheikh Rehana. She then informed the matter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
After handing over the house key State Minister Palak said, “Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised that no one will be homeless in this land of Bangladesh on the centenary of Bangabandhu’s birth. Along with that, she has built houses for nine lakh families in the country and provided shelter to 1.2 million people from the neighboring country of Myanmar. He has done that which is rare in the history of the world.”
