Bashundhara gives Tk 13, 40,000 to ultra-poor in soft loan

Bashundhara Foundation (BF) Thursday disbursed over Tk 13, 40,000 as soft loan to ultra-poor people in the backwater Bancharampur Upazila of the frontier district. A total of 209 destitute women from different villages under the upazila received the money as interest-free credits, disbursed under the Palli Micro-credit Project, a noble initiative of the Bashundhara Foundation. Mainal Hossain Chowdhury, Senior Executive Director (Accounts and Finance) of Bashundhara Group, distributed the credits at Durgarampur village, the ancestral home of Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, a renowned industrialist and chairman of the country’s leading business conglomerate Bashundhara Group. Of the recipients, a total of 118 individuals who completely refunded the previous loans got another tranche of fresh credit worth Tk 7,500 each. A total of 91 fresh underprivileged got Tk 4, 55,000 each. “The loan was disbursed not to invest it in any unproductive or anti-social sector. It was distributed to the ultra-poor people to help improve their financial capacity,’’ said Mainal Hossain Chowdhury while speaking on the occasion. “The rate of loan refund up till now is 100 percent, which, indeed, is a great success,” he added. Now, the total disbursement of loan stands at Tk 48, 74,000. Paharkandhi Upazila Parishad Chairman Abdul Gani Talukder and distinguished local personalities attended the lending programme. Earlier, they expressed their deep grief at the death of noted agriculturist Dr. Abdul Alim and prayed for salvation of his departed soul.