Staff Correspondent:  A meeting was held on Sunday at the Sagar-Runi Hall of the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) to discuss the implementation of a housing project for members of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ). The meeting focused on restructuring the existing cooperative society, inclusion of new members, and allocation of land for the housing project.
The meeting was chaired by DRU General Secretary Mainul Hasan Sohel and moderated by DUJ Executive Council Member Gazi Anwar.
Among the speakers were Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Office Secretary Abu Bakar, DUJ Executive Committee Member Fakhrul Islam, former DUJ Office Secretary DM Amirul Islam Omar, DUJ members Russell Patwari, Fayez Ullah Bhuiyan Manik, and SM Tajul Islam.
Speakers said that under the mediation of the DUJ Executive Committee, initiatives could be taken to obtain allocation of adjacent land in coordination with the currently functioning cooperative society. As an alternative, they also suggested moving forward with the housing project by registering a new cooperative society.
They further stated that if the existing cooperative undertakes the construction of multi-storied buildings, more DUJ members could be brought under housing facilities.
The speakers also raised questions regarding the activities of Dhaka Sangbadik Samabaya Samity Limited (Reg. No. 355). They alleged that nearly 50 members of the cooperative had previously sold plots allocated by the government. Therefore, they demanded cancellation of the memberships of those concerned and called for submission of the society’s internal audit report to the current DUJ Executive Council.
The participants emphasized the need for immediate and effective measures to resolve the housing crisis faced by journalists.
To facilitate the implementation of the housing project, two separate committees—a Monitoring Cell and an Implementation Committee—were formed at the meeting.
The Monitoring Cell includes: Bashir Jamal, Managing Director of Journalists Welfare Trust; Talukdar AHM Nurul Momen (Talukdar Rumi), Editor of Daily Panjeri; BFUJ Office Secretary Abu Bakar; DUJ Publicity Secretary Abul Kalam; Welfare Secretary Salah Uddin Razzak; Office Secretary Iqbal Majumder Touhid; EC Members M Mosharraf Hossain, Abdullah Majumder, Nizam Uddin Darbesh, and Raju Ahmed; former Office Secretary DM Omar; GTV Senior Reporter Cyrus Mahmud; BTV Senior Reporter Mechbah Shimul; DUJ members Elias Mahmud, Humayun Kabir, Fayez Ullah Bhuiyan Manik, and Nurul Hossain Kaiyum.
The Implementation Committee members are: DUJ EC Member Gazi Anwar (Coordinator), Daily Samakal Senior Reporter Kamrul Islam (Co-coordinator), and Daily Bangladesh Bulletin Adviser Editor Hasan Molla (Internal Auditor). Other members include DUJ Sports and Cultural Secretary Rafique Liton, DUJ EC Member Fakhrul Islam, BFUJ EC Member Abu Hanif, former DUJ EC Member Al Amin, DUJ members Rafique Rafi, Ziaur Rahman, SM Riel, SM Tajul Islam, and Noman Mosharaf.
Among others present at the meeting were Fazlur Rahman (Diner Alo), Nurul Afsar (Daily Mukto Tottho), Mosharifon Khan Lucky (INB), Saiful Islam (DPC), Talukdar Md. Billal Hossain (71Swadhinata.com), Kefayet Ullah Chowdhury Shakil (Bangla Vision), Israfil Forazi (Janakantha), Shaharul Islam (Banglar Kontho), Mujahidul Islam (Kal Bela), Nazmul Islam Faruk (RisingBD), MA Alamgir (Ajker Probhat), Russell Ahmed (Jatir Sangbad), Ali Ashraf (Amader Kontho), Tapas Biswas (Amar Barta), Shahidul Islam (Sokaler Somoy), Aslam Hossain (Dhakar Dak), Mostafa Kamal (Amar Barta), Sayeed Abdul Malik (Naya Diganta), Syed Raihan (BTV), Shamsul Alam (Desh Sangbad), Sohel Rana (Channel S), and Abu Sayeed (Gonojagoron).