Chaudhary Foundation, a social initiative of Chaudhary Group (CG), said on Monday it has completed construction of 2,540 shelters and 37 school buildings within a year after the devastating earthquake.

The foundation said it handed over 571 shelters and seven schools to quake survivors on Sunday.

The organisation on May 6 last year had announced to build 10,000 transitional shelters and rebuild 100 schools damaged by the earthquake. The foundation had declared to build 1,000 shelters on its own and the remaining 9,000 with support from various stakeholders.

The shelters are built with locally available materials which are cheaper than other popular building materials and family members of the receiving households were trained to build the shelters, according to the foundation. Each shelter was built at a cost of Rs60,000, while Rs1 million was spent at the reconstruction of each school.

Speaking at the programme, CG President Binod Chaudhary said the initiative was an example set by the private sector when the government has been struggling to kick-start reconstruction works.

“When we first declared our mission, neither we had resources nor we had trained manpower to undertake the task,” said Chaudhary. “But once we started the work we got lots of helping hands.”

He said the public private partnership (PPP) model could be crucial for reconstruction and suggested the government work with the private sector.

Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Bangladesh who supported the foundation, said the initiative was a unique gesture from the private sector. “We could feel the pain of the Nepalis as Bangladeshis too have faced various forms of disaster in the past,” said Rahman.