Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad. File photo

SANGSAD BHABAN, April 22, 2026 (BSS) - 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.

He added that 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 said 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 said that the Christian Religious Welfare Trust also
provides festival-based grants every year to churches, places of worship and
pilgrimage sites.

He said 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 said 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.