PM to inaugurate Family Card today

A special 'Family Card' programme is being launched on a pilot basis today for women-headed families to ensure women's empowerment, economic freedom and social justice. Under this card, each family will be given a monthly allowance of Tk 2,500.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will formally inaugurate the programme at an event organised at the T&T playground in Banani (adjacent to Karail slum) in the capital today, Tuesday, March 10.

This information was shared at a press conference organised by the Ministry of Social Welfare at the Secretariat yesterday, Monday, March 9.

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Social Welfare Minister Abu Jafar Md Zahid Hossain, Finance and Planning Adviser Rashid Al Mahmud Titumir, Social Welfare State Minister Farzana Sharmin, and Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives State Minister Mir Shah Alam, along with senior officials of both ministries, were present at the press conference.

Speaking at the press conference, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said, "As part of our election pledge, a major decision like the Family Card has been taken. We have long been saying that the benefits of the economy must reach every household. Taking on such a social programme considering the country's economic capacity is not easy, but we are implementing it." He further assured that no politicisation or partisanship was involved in selecting beneficiaries; the list was prepared through a completely transparent and independent process.

It was informed at the conference that under the pilot phase, the programme is being implemented in 15 wards across 13 districts of the country. Committees were formed with representatives from various government departments, from district to union levels, to collect and verify information on every household in each ward. The ward committees visited each house on the ground to collect information on the socio-economic status of families, number of members, education, housing, and the furniture and household items used. The collected information was further verified through union and upazila committees to prepare the final list.

It was also informed that during the pilot phase, information was collected from a total of 67,854 women-headed families across the country. Based on the collected data, families were categorised into different groups through an automated software using the 'Proxy Means Test' to determine the poverty index. Among these, information from 51,805 households categorised as ultra-poor, poor and lower-middle class was found accurate. Subsequently, after verifying issues like double dipping (one person receiving multiple allowances) and government employment or pension, a final total of 37,567 women-headed families were selected for this allowance.