8 categories of people outside family card, policy issued

The government has issued the ‘Family Card Implementation Policy, 2026’ to bring the poor and low-income families under the social safety net programme. In the new policy the conditions of exclusion for eight types of persons and families have been fixed by clarifying who will not get this benefit. At the same time the decision has been taken to launch a permanent identification number or ‘One-ID’ for every eligible family.

The Ministry of Social Welfare has issued this policy recently. Through this a complete structure has been created to expand the family card programme that was in the experimental stage nationwide. This programme has been taken as part of the commitment given in the government’s election manifesto of 2026 to form a discrimination-free and humane social welfare state.

It has been said in the policy that the extreme poor, poor and low-income families will be brought under an integrated digital social safety net system by putting forward the concept that ‘not the individual, the family is the main unit of development’. There is a target of giving monthly cash assistance from the government to about two crore women family heads under the programme. The plan has been made to give this money directly from the government to the beneficiaries or in the G2P method.

Eight classes have been fixed as deprived of benefits or ‘negative list’ in the policy. Families getting PMT score more than the fixed limit will not come under this programme. If the nominated woman head of the family gets regular salary-allowance in government, autonomous, semi-government or state-owned institutions and is an MPO-listed teacher or employee she will also not be considered for the card.

Besides, if the woman family head gets regular government pension or equivalent retirement benefits she will not get the card. However those getting special pension benefits due to a disabled child will remain outside this condition. If there is more than five lakh taka national savings certificate, bank deposit, fixed deposit or any other financial investment in the name of any member of the family the family will also be excluded.

If there is a BRTA-registered three or four-wheeler motor vehicle in the name of any member of the family the family card will also not be available. Among these there are car, jeep, pickup, bus, truck, microbus, covered van, lorry and specific types of three-wheelers. In the same way if there is an updated licence of a large commercial institution or business and if any member of the family is a regular taxpayer and pays taxable income that family will also remain outside the programme. If the total cultivable land of the family including the homestead is 0.50 acre or more or if the market value of any non-agricultural or commercial land or structure is more than five lakh taka the family card will also not be available.

It has been said in the policy about giving a permanent and unique identification number for every eligible family holding the family card. This ‘One-ID’ will be used as the central identity of the family in the future. There is a plan to use it not only as an identification number but also as part of the integrated data governance structure in the state information management.

According to the policy, various government-private institutions will also be able to take the benefit of this information system subject to the approval of the proper authority. Through this it will be possible to coordinate and verify the information of the same family with various social safety net programmes.

The woman family head nominated for the family card will not be able to take financial, food or other types of benefits from similar social safety net programmes of any other ministry or department at the same time. If she currently gets the benefits of TCB’s smart family card, food-friendly programme or the VWB programme of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs the previous benefit will be cancelled or suspended by verifying the central database.

The same rule will be applicable in the case of old-age allowance, widow and husband-tortured woman allowance, disability allowance or similar government cash assistance. However the other members of the family except the nominated woman head of the family card will be able to take the benefits of other government social safety net programmes according to the existing rules.