Govt aims to gradually issue 2cr family cards
The government is set to launch the pilot phase of its family card programme on March 10 with the ultimate aim of gradually bringing two crore families under monthly cash support.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will formally inaugurate the four-month pilot in 14 upazilas, where eligible families with at least five members will receive Tk 2,500 a month through direct transfers to their mobile wallets or bank accounts.
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During the pilot, 6,500 families will be covered, with the scheme expanding nationwide in phases, according to the draft Family Card Piloting Implementation Guidelines 2026 and the Family Card Policy Paper.
The matter was discussed and the pilot phase was finalised at a cabinet committee meeting chaired by Tarique yesterday.
If fully implemented, the programme, a key election pledge of the BNP, would cost about Tk 5,000 crore a month, roughly Tk 60,000 crore a year. It will potentially become the largest social spending commitment in the country’s history. The projected annual allocation would amount to nearly 12 percent of this fiscal year’s revenue target.
No one will be excluded, and there will be no involvement of intelligence agencies or party elements.
The draft, prepared by the social welfare ministry, envisions transforming the family card into a “Universal Social ID Card” for every citizen by 2030, while raising the social security budget to 3 percent of GDP by 2028.
At present, 95 social safety net programmes are run by 23 ministries. The allocation for these programmes in the current fiscal year is Tk 1.26 lakh crore, or 1.87 percent of GDP.
Under the new scheme, cards will be issued in the name of the mother or female head of household. Beneficiaries will be selected using Proxy Means Test (PMT) scoring, a scientific poverty assessment method.
Rural families owning 0.50 acres or less of homestead and cultivable land will be considered eligible, with income and assets also assessed to identify poor and ultra-poor households.
Families will be excluded if any member is a regular government employee or pensioner, owns a commercial licence or large business, or possesses a car or air conditioner.
Priority will be given to the landless, homeless, persons with disabilities, and marginalised communities, including hijra, Bede, and small ethnic groups.
Selection will be carried out by committees formed at the city, upazila, union, municipality, and ward levels.
The programme will be overseen by government officials under a two-tier checking system to minimise errors.
The draft states that existing TCB cards will be integrated into the family card’s Dynamic Social Registry. Using the same smart card with OTP verification, beneficiaries will be able to buy essential food items at subsidised prices and, in future, access services such as education stipends and agricultural subsidies.
“The main philosophy of this programme is ‘family is the core unit of development, not the individual,’” the guideline notes, adding that fragmentation and weak coordination among the 95 existing programmes have led to duplication, while 22–25 percent of the actual poor remain excluded.
“The aim of this programme is to build a humanwelfare state by eliminating discrimination,” it says.
PILOT PHASE
Briefing reporters after yesterday’s meeting, Social Welfare Minister AZM Zahid Hossain said the pilot phase will be implemented in one ward of each upazila. It will then be expanded in stages to one union and eventually to entire upazilas to ensure universal access.
The 14 upazilas selected for the pilot phase are Banani (Korail, Sattala and Bhashantek slums) and Mirpur/Shah Ali (Oli Miar Tek and Baganbari slums) in Dhaka; Pangsha in Rajbari; Patenga in Chattogram; Banchharampur in Brahmanbaria; Lama in Bandarban; Khalishpur in Khulna; Charfesson in Bhola; Derai in Sunamganj; Bhairab in Kishoreganj; Bogura Sadar in Bogura; Lalpur in Natore; Thakurgaon Sadar in Thakurgaon; and Nawabganj in Dinajpur.
Over Tk 2.10 crore was earmarked for the pilot phase. The cash will be transferred directly to beneficiaries’ mobile wallets or bank accounts through the government-to-person (G2P) system.
The first month’s cash assistance will be credited to beneficiaries’ accounts immediately after the inauguration.
For beneficiary selection, ward-level committees will conduct door-to-door data collection from February 26 to March 2, surveying at least 1,000 families in each selected ward.
After online data entry and PMT scoring, Department of Social Services staff will verify the information on the ground. Final approval is scheduled for March 8 and 9, after which QR-coded digital smart family cards will be printed.
Zahid said beneficiary selection would be based strictly on field-level, door-to-door data collection.
“No one will be excluded, and there will be no involvement of intelligence agencies or party elements,” he said.
The programme would target three groups: the ultra-poor, the poor, and lower-income families, according to him.
The mother, as head of household, will receive the benefit, Zahid said.
“If a woman becomes economically self-reliant, a family will become self-reliant, and the next generation will also benefit,” he said.
As the second half of the fiscal year is already underway, initial funding will come from block allocations by the finance ministry, with plans to incorporate the programme into the regular national budget from the next fiscal year.
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