87,309 Religious Institutions to Get State Allowances

A total of 87,309 religious institutions will come under the government's state allowance scheme in the 2026-27 financial year, benefiting more than 256,000 religious leaders and workers.

The institutions include 82,656 mosques, 3,000 temples, 752 Buddhist monasteries and 301 churches.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is expected to formally launch the expanded programme later this month.

The decision was taken at a recent meeting of a government cell formed to introduce monthly allowances and training-based welfare support for imams, muezzins, khadims and others working at mosques and other places of worship.

The meeting was chaired by Md Ismail Jabiuallah, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Administration, with the rank of a minister and chairman of the cell.

Under the programme, 15 mosques will be selected from each union in the 2026-27 financial year. In municipalities, four mosques will be selected from each ward of 'A' category municipalities, three from each ward of 'B' category municipalities and two from each ward of 'C' category municipalities.

Six mosques will be selected from each ward of every city corporation.

For temples, five will be selected from each upazila. Two temples will be selected from each 'A' category municipality and one from each municipality of other categories. The remaining temples will be selected at the union level.

The number of Buddhist monasteries and churches will be determined at a rate of 25% on a district basis.

Under the scheme, imams of selected mosques, priests of temples, heads of Buddhist monasteries and priests of churches will each receive a monthly allowance of Tk5,000.

Muezzins, temple sevaits, deputy heads of Buddhist monasteries and assistant priests of churches will receive Tk3,000 a month, while mosque khadims will receive Tk2,000.

The allowances will be transferred directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts through electronic funds transfer (EFT).

The government has allocated Tk11 billion in the current financial year's budget for monthly allowances for religious leaders and workers at mosques and other places of worship.

Around one-fourth of the country's religious institutions will come under the scheme in the current financial year. The government plans to gradually bring all religious institutions under the allowance programme over the next three financial years.

As part of the government's election manifesto, a pilot project was launched in the 2025-26 financial year. Under the pilot, 13,949 people, including imams, muezzins, khadims, priests and sevaits, working at 6,017 selected religious institutions received allowances for the first time.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman launched the pilot programme at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium on 14 March this year, less than a month after forming the government.