Dhaka: The government has been continuing its grant programmes for various religious institutions across the country and providing monthly honorariums to mosque-based religious service providing individuals, said Minister for Religious Affairs Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain (Kaokibad) in the Parliament today. Replying to a starred tabled question from treasury bench member Abul Kalam Azad Siddiqui (Tangail-7), the minister said that monthly honorariums are being provided to imams, muezzins, and khadems of mosques at the rates of Taka 5,000, Taka 3,000, and Taka 2,000 respectively.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, during the current fiscal year, grants are being disbursed to a wide range of religious institutions, including mosques, madrasas, Eidgahs, graveyards, Hindu temples, cremation grounds, Buddhist temples and monasteries, as well as churches and cemeteries. The minister stated that through the Hindu Religious Welfare Trust, grants amounting to Taka 4.5 crore will be distributed to religious institutions in the current fiscal year.
In addition, the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust provides special grants annually to Buddhist monasteries and places of worship across the country on the occasion of religious festivals. “These funds are allocated from the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund, alongside support from the Trust’s own resources for renovation and maintenance of monasteries, worship places, and cremation grounds,” he added.
The Minister further mentioned that the Christian Religious Welfare Trust also provides festival-based grants every year to churches, places of worship, and pilgrimage sites. He highlighted that these grants are also disbursed from special allocations of the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund, along with financial assistance from the Trust’s own funds for the repair and renovation of churches, worship places, and cemeteries.
The minister emphasized that the government is continuing these grant programmes to ensure uninterrupted religious practices for people of all faiths and to support the development and preservation of religious institutions.