A total of 256,074 imams, muezzins, mosque caretakers, and personnel serving at other places of worship across Bangladesh will receive a monthly honorarium during the 2026–27 fiscal year, according to Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Administration (with the rank of minister) Md. Ismail Zabiullah.

He made the announcement on Tuesday at the seventh meeting of the Prime Minister’s Office-formed cell on the Monthly Honorarium and Training-Based Welfare Programme, held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs conference room at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

The adviser said that, as part of the government’s election manifesto, Tk 11 billion (Tk 1,100 crore) has been allocated in the 2026–27 national budget to provide monthly honorariums to imams, muezzins, caretakers, and personnel serving at various religious institutions.

According to him, the programme will initially cover 256,074 beneficiaries, representing about one-quarter of the total target. The government plans to bring all eligible religious institutions under the scheme within the next four years.

During the current fiscal year, the honorarium will be provided to 247,968 personnel from 82,656 mosques, 6,000 personnel from 3,000 temples, 1,504 personnel from 752 Buddhist monasteries, and 602 personnel from 301 churches.

Zabiullah also noted that in the 2025–26 fiscal year, a total of 13,949 personnel from 6,017 selected religious institutions received the government honorarium.

Under the new scheme, imams, priests, Buddhist monastery heads, and pastors will receive a monthly honorarium of Tk 5,000. Muezzins, temple caretakers (Sebaits), deputy heads of Buddhist monasteries, and assistant pastors will receive Tk 3,000 per month, while mosque caretakers (khadems) will receive Tk 2,000 per month.

In addition, every beneficiary will receive an annual festival allowance of Tk 2,000.

The adviser said the payments will be made either through mobile financial services or direct bank transfers, depending on the beneficiary’s preference.

The meeting was attended by State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, Chief Whip and MP for Shariatpur-3 Mia Nuruddin Ahmed Apu, MP for Gaibandha-4 Mohammad Shamim Qaiser, the secretaries of the Ministries of Religious Affairs and Social Welfare, the Director General of the Islamic Foundation, the Director General of the NGO Affairs Bureau, and representatives from the Finance Division and the Local Government Division.