The non-governmental voluntary development organisations, which pioneered NGO movement in Bangladesh immediately after the War of Liberation, are in the midst of celebrating their 40th anniversary in February this year. Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service, popularly known as RDRS, completed its 40 years on February 08. The staff, along with the foreign nationals who were involved in its inception as a relief and rehabilitation organisation to mitigate the sufferings of the war victims, joined hands in a two-day celebration in Rangpur reminiscing their experiences ranging from relief to gradual involvement in socio-economic development of the poor and the disadvantaged. The celebration included colourful rally, seminar, fair and cultural shows.
Spread over 14 districts, RDRS has emerged into a well-known rural development organisation of the country covering over 4 lakh programme participants with integrated program of agricultural research and extension, education, health, tree plantation, environment, microcredit, and building rural infrastructure including roads, culverts, bridges, educational institutions and market places. These efforts have led to tangible results especially in the north-western region of Bangladesh.
