A total of 150 women have been recruited across 15 unions in Debidwar Upazila of Cumilla under the Rural Road Maintenance and Employment Project (RRMIP) through an open lottery aimed at ensuring transparency and fairness.
The recruitment process was completed on Wednesday (4 November) at 11am at the conference room of the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO).
A total of 272 women from the 15 unions applied for the positions. Through the lottery, 10 women were selected from each union, bringing the total number of recruits to 150.
The programme was chaired by Debidwar UNO Ashok Bikram Chakma and conducted by Upazila Engineer Monirul Sad Riyason.
Among those present were ABM Atikur Rahman Bashar, president of Debidwar Upazila Press Club, secretaries of different union parishads, union parishad members and a large number of job applicants.
The project, implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), aims to ensure sustainable maintenance of rural roads, care for roadside plantations, supervise various social development activities and create employment opportunities for disadvantaged women, particularly widows, abandoned women and those facing financial hardship.
Speaking about the project’s objectives and recruitment process, Upazila Engineer Monirul Sad Riyason said the selection was conducted through a transparent and impartial process to ensure that genuinely disadvantaged and eligible women received employment opportunities.
He said 10 women had been selected from each union. Each recruited worker would receive Tk 300 per day, of which Tk 100 would be deposited into her individual account.
He added that, under the project guidelines, selected women must be between 25 and 45 years of age and reside within two kilometres of roads listed by LGED for maintenance. The requirement is intended to ensure that workers can reach their workplaces easily and within a short time.
Expressing satisfaction with the transparent recruitment process, UNO Ashok Bikram Chakma said, “The recruitment of women workers will create opportunities for neglected women, widows and abandoned women in society to become economically self-reliant.”
He further said the project would play an important role in keeping the rural economy active and ensuring sustainable development of rural infrastructure.
“We organised an open lottery to bring genuinely disadvantaged and eligible women under the employment programme while maintaining complete transparency and impartiality,” he said.
The UNO added that the initiative would contribute not only to improving the living standards of selected women but also to ensuring regular maintenance of rural roads.
