The Rupsipara Islamia Orphanage in the remote Rupsipara union of Lama upazila in Bandarban has long been running in a dilapidated building at great risk. With an old tin roof, broken wooden walls and no boundary wall, 45 orphaned and poor children are having to live and study in an unsafe environment. Locals have called for government and private support, including the swift construction of a permanent building.
The orphanage was established in 1991 in a two-room tin-shed building on the initiative of the union’s former chairman, Abdul Jalil, and local elders Abu Bakkar Siddique and Abdus Sattar Farazi. After receiving registration from the Department of Social Services in 1993, the institution came under the capitation grant scheme. But although there are now 45 students, only 18 receive this government support. The management committee is struggling to bear the cost of the remaining 27.
On a visit to the site, parts of the orphanage’s tin walls were found broken, with holes in many places. With shaky posts, damaged doors and windows and a perforated tin roof, the building is at risk of an accident at any time. Children have to take their Quran lessons crammed together in a single room.
Students at the orphanage said that at night snakes, frogs and venomous insects get in through gaps in the tin walls, and that rain leaks through the roof, making it impossible to sleep safely. They called for a permanent building to be built quickly.
Local social workers Gulzar Hossain, Pintu Mia and Abul Hossain said the children were taking classes at daily risk in the run-down building. To ensure a safe environment, they said, it was urgent to build a new structure and boundary wall and develop the necessary infrastructure.
Management committee member Ali Hossain and teachers said the hifz and Nurani education programmes were being run by just two teachers. Without an additional teacher, an academic building and government support, keeping the institution running had become difficult. They added that, with no boundary wall, there was also a risk of the institution’s land being grabbed.
Management committee president Shakhawatul Islam said that despite applying to various government offices over the past 18 years, no allocation for a permanent building had been secured. He appealed for urgent intervention from the authorities concerned to build a structure and boundary wall and to grant capitation support for the 27 students currently left out.
The acting chairman of Rupsipara union council, Shah Alam, said that although the number of students had risen, the necessary infrastructure had not been developed. Because of the dilapidated building, an accident could happen at any time, he said, making it necessary to build a permanent structure and boundary wall quickly.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report