Dhaka: A total of 87,309 religious institutions will come under the state honorarium programme in the 2026-27 fiscal year, benefiting 256,074 religious leaders working at these institutions. Of the institutions, 82,656 are mosques, 3,000 temples, 752 Buddhist monasteries, and 301 churches. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to inaugurate the programme this month.

According to United News of Bangladesh, the decision was taken at a recent meeting of the cell formed to implement the government’s election manifesto. The manifesto aims to introduce a monthly honorarium and training-based welfare system for mosque imams, muezzins, khadems, and other religious leaders of various faiths. The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Administration and cell president, Md Ismail Zabihullah.

In the 2026-27 fiscal year, 15 mosques will be selected from each union for the honorarium programme. In municipalities, four mosques will be chosen from each ward of ‘A’ class municipalities, three from each ward of ‘B’ class municipalities, and two from each ward of ‘C’ class municipalities. Additionally, six mosques will be selected from each ward of a city corporation. For temples, five will be selected from each upazila, with specific allocations for different classes of municipalities, while 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 percent district-wise.

Under the programme, each selected mosque imam, temple priest, Buddhist monastery principal, and church priest will receive a monthly honorarium of Tk 5,000. A mosque muezzin, temple serviceman, Buddhist monastery vice-principal, and church assistant priest will receive Tk 3,000 each, while a mosque khadem will receive Tk 2,000 per month. The honorarium will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts through electronic fund transfer (EFT).

In the current fiscal year, Tk 1,100 crore has been allocated to provide monthly honorariums to religious leaders working at mosques and other places of worship. About one-fourth of the country’s religious institutions will come under the state programme in the current fiscal year, with plans to extend this benefit to all religious institutions in phases over the next three fiscal years.

As part of the implementation of the government’s election manifesto, 13,949 people, including imams, muezzins, khadems, priests, shebaits, and other workers from 6,017 selected religious institutions, received honorariums for the first time under a pilot project in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated the pilot programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium on March 14 this year, less than a month after the formation of the government.