Editorial, News & commercial office:
55/A, H M Siddique Mansion (Level-7), Purana Paltan, Motijhel C/A, Dhaka-1000. Phone: +8802226640056,
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
A total of 256,074 imams, muezzins, khadems and workers at religious institutions across Bangladesh will receive monthly government honorariums in the 2026-27 fiscal year under a new welfare programme.
The government has allocated Tk 11 billion for the initiative in the national budget, Prime Minister's Adviser on Public Administration Md. Ismail Jabiullah announced at a meeting held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the Secretariat on Tuesday.
The programme has been introduced as part of the government's commitment to implement its election manifesto by providing monthly honorariums and training-based welfare support for people serving at religious institutions. A dedicated cell under the Prime Minister's Office has been formed to oversee the initiative.
The adviser said the government plans to gradually bring all religious institutions in the country under the scheme. During the first year, around one-fourth of all religious institutions will be included, with full nationwide coverage targeted within four years.
Under the current fiscal year's programme, beneficiaries include 247,968 workers from 82,656 mosques, 6,000 workers from 3,000 temples, 1,504 workers from 752 Buddhist monasteries and 602 workers from 301 churches.
Jabiullah noted that a pilot programme in the 2025-26 fiscal year covered 13,949 imams, muezzins, khadems and other religious workers from 6,017 selected religious institutions.
According to the approved rates, imams, temple priests, heads of Buddhist monasteries and church priests will receive Tk 5,000 per month. Muezzins, temple caretakers, deputy heads of Buddhist monasteries and assistant priests will receive Tk 3,000 monthly, while mosque khadems will receive Tk 2,000.
Each beneficiary will also receive an annual festival allowance of Tk 2,000. Payments will be transferred directly to beneficiaries through bank accounts or mobile financial services.
The meeting was attended by Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives State Minister Mir Shahe Alam, Whip and MP Miah Nuruddin Ahmed Apu, MP Mohammad Shamim Qaiser, senior officials of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Social Welfare, the Islamic Foundation, the NGO Affairs Bureau, and representatives of the Finance and Local Government divisions.
