Patuakhali fourth grader to receive PM’s letter Monday with pledge to bridge Payra River

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised a Patuakhali schoolboy her government will take measures to build a bridge on the turbulent Payra River after the boy wrote to her.

Her letter to Shirshendu Biswas is already with his schoolteacher and will be formally handed to the fourth grader at Patuakhali Government Jubilee High School on Monday, the district’s DC AKM Shamimul Haque Siddiqui on Sunday told bdnews24.com.

Shirshendu had written to the prime minister in August, asking her to build a bridge on the river which is on the way to his home at Jhalakathi’s Mirzaganj Upazila.

“We are proud and thrilled to have the prime minister delightfully respond to a child’s letter. A boy from our district has got assurance from the prime minister of a bridge on the huge river. We are grateful to the prime minister,” said Siddiqui.

The school’s Headmaster Md Siddikur Rahman said they received the prime minister’s letter on Sep 20 and was currently in his possession.

“Shirshendu is very happy after getting response from the prime minister. He had thought that the prime minister won’t even see his letter,” Rahman said.

The boy had sent the letter on Aug 15 and Hasina wrote back on Sep 8.

Shirshendu’s father Biswajit Biswas works at a private firm in Patuakhali and mother Shila Rani Sonnamot is a computer operator at the cooperatives department district office.

A beaming Shila told reporters, “I still can’t believe that the prime minister read my son’s letter. Thousands of blessings for the prime minister. I am very proud of my son.”

The Payra River is two kilometres wide at the point of the route Shirshendu takes to get to his school at Patuakhali from Mirzaganj.