It has been decided to increase the monthly allowance of titled freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters by Tk 5,000. However, the monthly allowance of Tk 20,000 for freedom fighters will remain unchanged. Apart from this, the interim government has decided to increase the number of allowances and beneficiaries under the social security program in the next financial year 2026-27. For this, 2 thousand 700 crores will be spent extra.
In the meeting of the advisory council related to social security programs on Sunday, a total of 15 programs, including the elderly, widows, and disabled, have been decided on new rates and ranges. Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed presided over the meeting. This information was informed in a circular after the meeting held in the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance.
Finance department sources said that in the current financial year 2025-26, 1 lakh 16 thousand 731 crores have been allocated to the social security sector, out of which the allocation for pension is more than 35 thousand crores. The allocation for social security without pension is 81 thousand 297 crores, which is 1.87 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The meeting recommended monthly gratuity to the families of martyrs and injured persons and VGF program to be included in the terms of reference of the Advisory Council Committee on Social Security Programme. At the same time, it has been recommended to bring a total of 1.5 lakh fishermen under the VGF program by including 2 lakh 73 thousand 514 fishermen in the next financial year.
According to the notification of the finance department, the number of beneficiaries under the social welfare ministry is being increased by 1 lakh to 62 lakh. Out of this, 59 lakh 95 thousand people will get 700 taka per month and 2 lakh 5 thousand people above 90 years of age will get 1 thousand taka allowance per month.
Under the same ministry, the number of beneficiaries under the widow and husband Nigrahita allowance program has been fixed at 29 lakhs. Out of this, 28 lakh 75 thousand women will get monthly allowance of Tk 700 and 25 thousand women above 90 years of age will get Tk 1 thousand monthly allowance.
The number of beneficiaries under disability allowance and education stipend program is being increased by one and a half lakh to 3.6 lakh. Out of this, 35 lakh 81 thousand 900 people will get 900 taka monthly and 18 thousand 100 people will get 1 thousand taka monthly allowance. Besides, the rate of scholarship for disabled students is being increased to 50 rupees at all levels.
Beneficiaries have been increased by 7,000 to 2,28,389 people in the program of improving the quality of life of the backward communities. In this case, everyone’s monthly allowance is increased from Tk 650 to Tk 700. The rates of scholarships and merit scholarships for backward students have also been revised.
Beneficiaries of the financial assistance program for patients suffering from cancer, kidney, liver cirrhosis, paralysis due to stroke, congenital heart disease and thalassemia have been increased by 5 thousand to 65 thousand. One-time medical assistance has been increased from Tk 50 thousand to Tk 1 lakh.
Beneficiaries of mother and child support program have been increased to 18 lakh 95 thousand 200 people. The number of beneficiary families under the food friendly program has been increased to 60 lakh.
