45m families to be included in Family Card database: Dr Zahid

Data collection at the household level has begun today across the country under the government's priority 'Family Card' program, aimed at ensuring women's empowerment, their economic emancipation and self-reliance.

Through this initiative, data on approximately 45 million families across the country will be integrated into a single digital database.

Professor Dr. AZM Zahid Hossain, Minister for Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs, disclosed this information today at a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID) at Bangladesh Secretariat here.

State Minister for Social Welfare Farzana Sharmin Putul, Ministry’s Secretary Dr. Mohammad Abu Yousuf and Principal Information Officer (PIO) Syed Abdal Ahmad, along with officials concerned from the ministry and the Department of Social Services, were present at the conference.

During the briefing, the Social Welfare Minister stated that as part of the Family Card initiative, the process of collecting data through direct door-to-door visits began nationwide today.

A total of 66,815 trained data collectors and 6,681 supervisors have been deployed for this task. The data collection process is scheduled to conclude by November 30 and it will be ready by December.

Dr. Zahid Hossain said, "Ordinary citizens need not to run after government offices or individuals to obtain a Family Card, government data collectors will visit the doorstep of every family directly. Eligible families will automatically be identified from the database using a fully scientific Proxy Means Test (PMT) method."

In this context, he said, "There is no scope for political influence, nepotism or the use of unfair means to get a family card."

He said, initially out of 45 million households between 16 million and 21 million families categorized as ultra-poor, poor or low-income will be identified as eligible for the allowance based on their PMT scores.

Dr. Zahid Hossain announced that 4.1 million women, who are heads of households, are being brought under this allowance scheme in the current 2026-27 fiscal year.

All eligible families will receive this benefit in phases over the next four years. A total of Taka 14,500 crore has been allocated for the program's being implemented this fiscal year.

The minister noted that the 'Family Card' issued to the women would be highly secure. Equipped with dual-chip, QR code and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies, the card will be linked to the government's 'Taka Pay' payment scheme.

This will allow beneficiaries to withdraw their allowance at locations of their choice such as any bank's ATM booth, a retail store's POS machine, or through mobile financial services like bKash and Nagad, he added.

Responding to various queries from journalists at the press conference, the minister stated that to ensure transparency and prevent any eligible family from being left out, arrangements have been made to submit complaints and appeals both online and offline through the 'Service Centers' at every Union Parishad office.

Additionally, the data will be cross-checked with the Ministry of Finance's iBAS system to verify its authenticity.

The minister added that regular research and reviews would be conducted to assess the familial and social impact of this program, involving various domestic and international organizations including the National University and BRAC University.