A total of 37,567 female-headed households have been selected to receive benefits under the government’s “Family Card” program during its pilot phase.
Each beneficiary family will receive a monthly allowance of Tk2,500.
The program will be formally launched on Tuesday by BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the T&T playground in Banani, adjacent to Korail slum in the capital.
Officials shared the details at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Social Welfare at the Secretariat on Monday.
According to the ministry, the pilot project is being implemented in 15 wards across 13 districts. Authorities collected and verified household data through committees formed at ward, union, upazila and district levels, comprising representatives from various government offices.
Using the collected data, households were assessed through an automated system applying the proxy means test to determine poverty levels. Families were categorized into five groups: ultra-poor, poor, lower middle class, middle class and upper class.
Initially, 51,805 households from the ultra-poor, poor and lower middle-income groups were shortlisted. After verification, information from 47,777 households was found to be accurate. Following further screening to remove cases involving duplicate benefits, government employment or pension recipients, 37,567 female-headed families were finalized for the allowance.
Field teams also visited households to gather detailed socio-economic information, including family size, education level, housing condition, household assets such as television, refrigerator, computer and mobile phones, as well as remittance inflows. The data were subsequently verified by union and upazila committees before finalizing the beneficiary list.
Under the pilot phase, families will receive Tk2,500 per month, while the government is also considering providing food support of equivalent value in the future.
However, households will not qualify if any member is employed in government, autonomous or state-owned institutions, receives salary, allowance or pension from such entities, or if the female head of the household works in an MPO-listed educational institution. Families owning commercial licenses, large businesses, luxury assets such as cars or air conditioners, or savings certificates worth Tk5,00,000 will also be excluded.
The allowance will be transferred directly to the beneficiary woman’s mobile wallet or bank account through a government-to-person (G2P) payment system. Officials said account details were collected during the data gathering process to ensure payments reach recipients without delay, errors or third-party interference.
For the pilot phase, the government has allocated Tk38.7 crore until June 2026. Of this amount, Tk25.15 crore will be distributed as direct cash assistance, while Tk12.92 crore will be spent on program implementation, including data collection, development of the online system and card preparation.
