PM to hand over honorarium to 280 religious figures in Feni

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is expected to hand over honorarium to 270 imams, muezzins and khadems of mosques and 10 Hindu religious priests from Fulgazi upazila of Feni on 17 September.

Public Administration Adviser to the Prime Minister and BNP Standing Committee Member Md Ismail Zabihullah disclosed the information on Wednesday at a meeting hosted at the Ministry of Religious Affairs at the Secretariat.

It was the eighth meeting of cell titled “Monthly Honorarium and Training-Based Welfare Scheme for Imams, Muezzins, Khadems of Mosques and Persons Working at Other Religious Places of Worship.”

In his opening remarks as chairman of the meeting, he said a monthly honorarium and training-based welfare scheme had been introduced for imams, muezzins, khadems and persons working at various religious places of worship for implementing the government’s election manifesto.

He said Tk1,100 crore has been allocated in the 2026-27 budget for providing monthly honorariums to imams, muezzins, khadems and persons working at various religious places of worship. Under the programme, 256,074 beneficiaries will receive honorariums in the first year. The government aims to bring 100 percent of the country’s religious institutions under the programme within the next four years, he added.

Zabihullah said transparency and accountability will be ensured in providing the honorariums so that genuine beneficiaries receive their dues on time without any harassment or irregularities.

He said a memorandum of understanding has been signed among the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Department of Social Services to ensure the rapid and transparent delivery of honorarium allowances.

He said honorarium allowances under the programme will be provided through a Government-to-Person (G2P) system using Management Information System (MIS) software. After completion of data collection and input at the field level, the first-half honorarium for July to September will be transferred electronically to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts in the first half of next month, he added.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Mohammad Shamim Kaiser, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (state minister rank, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and ethnic minority affairs) Bijon Kanti Sarker, secretaries of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Social Welfare; Director General of the Islamic Foundation; Director General (Secretary) of the NGO Affairs Bureau; and a representative of the Ministry of Rural Development and Cooperatives were present at the meeting.