Babu Mia, a 21-year old physically challenged youth, is a second-year student of the honors course at the History Department in Magura Adrasha College.
The speech impaired with a maimed leg lost his father in a road accident when he was only two-year-old. After the death of his father, his mother with two young kids moved from Jhenaidah to his maternal grandparents’ house in Magura.
But the grandparents and uncles were also financially insolvent which forced his mother to join a garment factory in Narayanganj for their livelihood at one stage. His younger brother Emon started working as a day labourer at Narinda in Dhaka.
Babu had to stay with his grandmother after his mother and brother shifted from Magura. But what an irony of fate! Like his father, his grandmother also died in a road accident last year keeping Babu completely alone.
He became a burden for his uncles. Their families were unwilling to take care of him. His dream to continue his study became pale.
Finding no other way, he collected the phone number of the Prime Minister on his own and sent an SMS telling about his misery.
He, in the SMS, said, “I’m Babu Mia (20), a speech-impaired youth. My father died in a road accident during my childhood. My mother, younger brother and I used to stay in my grandmother’s house. Later mother and younger brother availed jobs in garment and as labor respectively in Dhaka. My grandmother used to take care of me. But my grandmother also died in a road accident. The financial condition of the uncles is not good. There is no one in the world to take care of me. I have no place, no house to stay.'
Babu also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister. Later, the Prime Minister's Office sent a letter to the Magura deputy commissioner to arrange a house for him.
The DC came to Babu Mia and listed his name for an Ashrayan house at Ichhakhda village under Hazrapur Union in Magura Sadar. Finally, Babu Mia got the semi-pucca house with a two-decimal land in September 2021 as a gift from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Mujib Year.
Visiting Babu Mia in his permanent house recently, he was seen reading a book in the abode as part of his second-year examination preparation.
Locals said Babu is physically challenged by birth. “An SMS changed his life and he got a permanent shelter thanks to the Prime Minister. The house eased his life and helped him to continue his study,” said a neighbour Moniruzzaman.
Now he cooks for himself and washes his own clothes. His mother and brother send Tk 5,000-Tk 6,000 every month to lead his life there. “In case of any need, speech-impaired Babu sends us SMS and we take care of him,” said another neighbour Zakir Hossain.
Magura Deputy Commissioner Ashraful Alam said he went to Babu in his grandparents' house immediately after receiving a letter from the PMO. “When we offered to construct a house for him in his grandparents’ land, he didn’t agree. Later, he was given the house with land in the present location as a gift from the Prime Minister,” he said.
Babu expressed his happiness, having the house in September last. “He is a very talented and honest youth,” said Ashraful Alam.
Magura Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Yeasin Kabir said so far 108 homeless and landless families were given the semi-pucca houses in Magura Sadar upazila under the Ashrayan-2 project in the Mujib Year. Babu Mia got the house during the second phase distribution, he said.