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Department of Social Services

department · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Md. Saidur Rahman Khan
Role
Director General
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
1961
Legal basis
Established 2 January 1961 under the Government of East Pakistan; operates under the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies (Registration and Control) Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance No. 46 of 1961) for NGO registration functions; functions delegated by the Ministry of Social Welfare under successive administrative orders

DSS is executing three concurrent reforms ahead of FY2026-27: (1) Old Age Allowance raised to Tk 700/month for 5.995 million beneficiaries and Tk 1,000/month for 205,000 aged above 90, effective 1 July 2026, with total OAA coverage at 6.2 million; (2) digital beneficiary list pilot using PMT scoring and biometrics in 8 designated upazilas, aimed at purging ineligible names and building a clean MIS before nationwide rollout; (3) Family Card pilot disbursing Tk 2,500/month to 40,000 households in 14 upazilas via mobile/bank transfer, with 2-crore-card national target by 2028. Social safety net budget proposed at Tk 35,708 crore for FY27, up 64% from FY26.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

DSS was established on 2 January 1961 under the Government of East Pakistan, initially under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; the Shamajseba Bhaban headquarters in Dhaka was inaugurated in 1999. Current Social Welfare Adviser (minister-equivalent in the interim government) is Sharmeen Murshid, confirmed active as of May 2026 across multiple BSS/Dhaka Tribune sources. DG Md. Saidur Rahman Khan held the post through at least December 2025; BSS reported his promotion to secretary-rank (posted to Disaster Management and Relief Ministry) in January 2026, but no confirmed successor name was found in public sources as of this verification date -- head_since is left null and DG name reflects last confirmed appointment pending official dss.gov.bd update. Old Age Allowance figures are precisely split: 5,995,000 beneficiaries at Tk 700/month and 205,000 aged above 90 at Tk 1,000/month, summing to 6.2 million total; confirmed by TBS, BSS, and Daily Star citing the Advisers Council Committee decision. Digital beneficiary pilot upazila names (8 total) are verified against TBS primary reporting: Mehendiganj, Shyamnagar, Tahirpur, Gauripur, Taraganj, Niamatpur, Ramgarh, Kapasia. Family Card pilot expanded from original 8-upazila committee plan to 14 upazilas at launch (10 March 2026); covers approximately 40,000 households; Tk 2,500/month; PMT-based; female-headed. FY2026-27 proposed safety net total of Tk 35,708 crore is system-wide across all ministries, not DSS-specific; DSS-specific allocation not disaggregated in available public budget documents. staff_count and DSS-specific annual_budget_bdt not found in public sources; left null.

Sources