Ministry of Social Welfare

ministry · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head: A. Z. M. Zahid Hossain
Role: Minister
Annual budget: ৳128,070,000,000
Staff: —
Established: 1972
Legal basis: Constitution of Bangladesh, Article 15(d) (state obligation to ensure social security for citizens unable to work); Rules of Business 1996 (Schedule I, Ministry of Social Welfare entry); Orphan and Widow Homes Act 1944; Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act 2013

Leading delivery of the BNP government's flagship Family Card programme (Tk 2,500/month to female household heads, 40 million target over 4 years) while rolling out PMT-based biometric verification to remove ghost beneficiaries from Old Age and Widow allowance rolls; FY2026-27 SSN hikes finalised (Old Age and Widow raised to Tk 700/month, effective 1 July 2026) and disability inclusion highlighted as a strategic priority.

Recent activity

2026-02-17 appointment Prof Dr A. Z. M. Zahid Hossain (BNP) sworn in as Minister for Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs in the Tarique Rahman-led cabinet; Farzana Sharmin Putul simultaneously sworn in as State Minister for Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs. ↗↗↗
2026-01-25 policy Advisers Council Committee on Social Safety Net Programmes (chaired by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed) finalised beneficiary counts and allowance rates for 15 social safety net programmes for FY2026-27, effective 1 July 2026: Old Age Allowance raised from Tk 650 to Tk 700/month for 5.995 million beneficiaries (plus Tk 1,000/month for 205,000 aged 90+), total beneficiaries up 100,000 to 6.2 million; Widow and Distressed Women Allowance raised from Tk 650 to Tk 700/month for 2.875 million (Tk 1,000/month for 25,000 aged 90+); Disability Allowance kept at Tk 900/month for 3,581,900 persons (Tk 1,000/month for 18,100). ↗↗
2026-03-01 reform Minister Zahid Hossain visited Family Card pilot activities and announced that Proxy Means Test (PMT) scoring would be the basis for beneficiary selection to prevent political influence; 40,000 families to be covered by June 2026 pilot target. ↗↗
2026-03-07 reform Ministry of Social Welfare launched a digital list of Old Age Allowance beneficiaries using biometric registration and PMT scoring, piloted across eight upazilas (Mehendiganj, Shyamnagar, Tahirpur, Gauripur, Taraganj, Niamatpur, Ramgarh, Kapasia), with data to be incorporated into the Management Information System. ↗
2026-03-10 policy Prime Minister Tarique Rahman formally inaugurated the Family Card programme at T&T Playground, Banani, Dhaka; 37,567 female heads of households received Tk 2,500/month cash transfers in the pilot; four-year target is 40 million families; pilot budget Tk 38.07 crore (Tk 25.15 crore direct cash, Tk 12.92 crore implementation). ↗↗↗
2026-04-01 international UNOPS Bangladesh Country Manager Sudhir Muralidharan led a four-member delegation to the Ministry of Social Welfare; Minister Zahid Hossain and State Minister Farzana Sharmin briefed the delegation on Family Card implementation progress; UNOPS committed cooperation on the programme alongside the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. ↗↗
2026-04-07 reform Minister Zahid Hossain visited the Department of Social Services office in Agargaon and observed a Training of Trainers programme on Survivor-Centred GBV Case Management, jointly organised with UNFPA; called for modernisation of social services delivery and effective training of frontline workers. ↗
2026-05-13 statement Minister Zahid Hossain stated at the 19th World Autism Awareness Day event at Osmani Memorial Auditorium, Dhaka, that approximately 6% of Bangladesh's population lives with disabilities and that overall social development is impossible without their inclusion; underscored government commitment to strengthening access to treatment and rehabilitation for persons with disabilities. ↗
2026-05-15 reform State Minister Farzana Sharmin Putul stated the government is taking steps to ensure social safety net allowances reach real beneficiaries, continuing the PMT-based verification drive initiated under the ministry's digitalisation agenda. ↗

Provenance & notes

Established 20 January 1972 per Wikipedia infobox (sourced from MoSW); the 9 November 1989 date cited in some documents refers to a departmental reorganisation, not original formation. Minister AZM Zahid Hossain holds the combined Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs portfolio; State Minister Farzana Sharmin Putul (BNP, Natore-1) holds the same dual portfolio -- this is a shared-minister arrangement standard in the BNP cabinet. The annual_budget_bdt field records the Wikipedia-cited FY2024-25 own-ministry budget of Tk 12,807 crore (stored as 1,280,700,000,000 BDT = Tk 12,807 crore); fy_budget_year set to '2024-25' because the FY2025-26 ministry-level total was not directly confirmed from a primary MoF document during this verification (MoF portal timed out); Grant 26 programme-level FY2025-26 allocations are recorded in budget_actions and sourced from the MoF Grant 26 document. The social protection sector-wide allocation for FY2025-26 is Tk 1,16,731 crore (14.78% of national budget), covering all ministries, not MoSW alone. Orphanage capitation grants: approximately Tk 2,500/month per child in ~3,710 registered private orphanages covering 72,000 orphan children under the Orphan and Widow Homes Act 1944 -- no new policy change in the 90-day window. Verification based on 2+ primary sources for all key claims.

Ministry of Social Welfare

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