Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday inaugurated a landmark government programme to provide monthly honorariums to the heads and assistants of various religious institutions across the country.

The Prime Minister officially launched the initiative at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium this morning by activating the Integrated Budget and Accounting System (IBAS), which facilitated the direct transfer of funds to the bank accounts of imams, muazzins, and khadems of mosques, as well as the heads and assistant heads of other religious institutions under a pilot scheme.

Prior to the digital launch, the Prime Minister distributed ceremonial cheques to a selection of these religious leaders.

Beneficiaries expressed their deep gratitude to the government and the Prime Minister for introducing this welfare initiative immediately upon receiving confirmation of the payments via SMS from their respective banks.

The Prime Minister arrived at the venue at 9:58 am and spent time exchanging greetings with Islamic scholars and representatives from various other faiths who were present on the stage.

Under this initiative, the government is providing monthly allowances to a diverse group of religious figures, including imams, muazzins, and khadems of mosques; priests and sebaits of temples; heads and deputy heads of Buddhist Vihars; and priests and assistant priests of churches.

The event featured remarks from several distinguished guests, including the guest of honor, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the special guest, Prime Minister’s Adviser for Public Administration Md. Ismail Zabiullah, who presided over the cell responsible for implementing this programme.

The function was chaired by Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain (Kaikobad).

Other notable speakers at the event included Shaykh-e-Charmonai Mufti Syed Fayzul Karim, Senior Nayeb-e-Ameer of Islami Andolan Bangladesh; Mufti Muhibbullahil Baki, Pesh Imam of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque; Mufti Saiful Islam, Khatib of Dhanmondi Taqwa Mosque; valiant freedom fighter Uday Sankar Chakraborty, general secretary of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram Kurigram; Dharma Mitra Mahathero, head of the International Buddhist Monastery, Dhaka; and Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze, OMI, Archbishop of Dhaka.

The ceremony commenced with the screening of a documentary detailing the government’s new welfare scheme.

The programme was introduced as a fulfilment of an election pledge made by the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which aimed to introduce an honorarium and training-based welfare system for religious leaders of all faiths to strengthen social and religious harmony.

In the first phase of this pilot scheme, 4,908 mosques—one from each union and municipality—have been selected. Additionally, 990 temples (two from each upazila), 144 Buddhist monasteries (two from each of the 72 upazilas where they exist), and 396 churches (two from each of the 198 upazilas where they exist) have been included.

Under the defined allowance structure, mosques will receive a total of BDT 10,000 per month, distributed as BDT 5,000 for the Imam, BDT 3,000 for the Muezzin, and BDT 2,000 for the Khadem.

For temples, Buddhist monasteries, and churches, the institutions will receive BDT 8,000 per month; for temples, this covers BDT 5,000 for the priest and BDT 3,000 for the Sebayet; for Buddhist monasteries, BDT 5,000 for the head monk and BDT 3,000 for the assistant monk; and for churches, BDT 5,000 for the priest and BDT 3,000 for the assistant priest.

Furthermore, the scheme includes festival allowances: imams, muazzins, and khadems will receive BDT 1,000 each during Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha, while priests, sebayets, head monks, assistant monks, church priests, and assistant priests will receive BDT 2,000 each during their respective major religious festivals, namely Durga Puja, Buddha Purnima, and Christmas.

To implement this programme for the current fiscal year, the government has allocated BDT 27.13 crore. Officials noted that by utilizing the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) system through Sonali Bank, the payments are sent directly to the personal bank accounts of the beneficiaries, ensuring transparency and leaving no scope for corruption.