Over 1.50 crore people across the country are getting benefits from one of the prime minister's 10 priority initiatives -- “Ekti Bari, Ekti Khamar" (One house, one farm) project.

"The project is playing a vital role in alleviating poverty and making the poor self-reliant," Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told the agency yesterday.

Under the project, a total of 62,400 “Village Development Associations” (VDAs) were formed across the country from which about 30.61 lakh families are getting benefits and their yearly income increased by about Tk 11,000 on an average.

The PM's principal secretary said the goal of the project is poverty alleviation through e-financial inclusion, including fund mobilisation, followed by family farming livelihood and income generation of the under privileged and smallholders of the country.

Project Director of Ekti Bari, Ekti Khamar Akber Hossain said the government took the project to alleviate poverty and achieve the sustainable development goals through fund mobilising and farming.

"Through the project, the government is assisting capital formation of the poor farm families, sharpening their skills through training and motivation, allowing them to sit together at courtyard meetings, enabling them to take decisions independently, enabling them to develop need based small family farms and ensuring marketing facilities for their products," he added.

The project started in 2010-2011 with Tk 14,920 million and finally the project was revised in 2013 with Tk 31,630 million for 40,527 villages.

By now, members of the VDAs have become self-reliant and capable of running their businesses independently, Hossain said.

In the project areas, low income families reduced to three percent from 15 percent and comparatively solvent household increased to 31 percent from 23 percent, he said.

The VDA members deposited Tk 1193.45 crore and the government has provided Tk 978.39 crore as grant under the project, he added.