Prime Minister to inaugurate family card today, 37,567 people will get

The government is going to launch family cards in the name of female-headed households on an experimental basis. Through this card, each beneficiary will get Tk 2,500 per month. The allowance will be given to the beneficiaries through mobile wallet or bank account as per the choice of the beneficiary. In this, they will get the allowance sitting at home. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will inaugurate the family card at T&T playground in Banani (adjacent to Karail slum) at 10 am today, Tuesday (March 10).
A government information release said yesterday (March 9) that in the first phase of the pilot program, the family card program is being implemented in 15 wards of 13 city corporations/unions in 13 districts of the country. In the pilot phase, information of a total of 67,854 female-headed households has been collected across the country. In the verification of information of 51,805 extremely poor, poor and lower middle class households, the information of 47,777 households was found to be correct. From the information received, it is known that 37,567 female-headed families have been finalized for providing allowances due to double dipping (receiving multiple allowances by the same person), government jobs, pensions, etc.
Under the family card, each female-headed family will get one modern family card. This contactless chip-based card uses QR code (with bar code information) and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. One family card will be provided for 5 members of a family. However, if the number of members in a joint/contiguous family is more than 5, the issue of providing multiple cards on a proportional basis will be considered. Monthly allowance will be at the rate of Tk 2,500 and later food assistance of equal value will be considered.
During the pilot phase, if any member of the family is receiving salary/allowance/grant/pension from government, autonomous and state-owned institutions, if the female head of the family is working as a teacher/employee in an MPO-listed institution, then that family will not be considered eligible for the allowance. The money will be deposited in the beneficiary’s mobile wallet or bank account as per his/her choice. The beneficiary’s mobile wallet or bank account information has been collected during the data collection phase.
For the implementation of the family card in the pilot phase, Tk 38.07 crore has been allocated for the period up to June/2026, out of which Tk 25.15 crore (66.06 percent) will be used for direct cash assistance and Tk 12.92 crore (33.94 percent) will be used for data collection, online system development, card preparation, etc. for the implementation of the program.