The government will officially launch its much-anticipated Family Card programme on August 16 following a successful pilot phase, aiming to bring around 1.6 crore families under a unified social protection system over the next four years.
The announcement came from Social Welfare Minister AZM Zahid Hossain following a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on the Family Card, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to inaugurate the programme in Ward No. 8 of Latifabad Union in Kishoreganj Sadar upazila.
Authorities plan a rapid nationwide rollout, expanding coverage to all upazilas and unions in phases by the end of October.
At the core of the initiative is a Dynamic Social Registry, designed to maintain an up-to-date database of households by regularly tracking changes in their socio-economic conditions.
Zahid said beneficiary lists would be verified at the union level to ensure inclusion of eligible households while preventing leakages.
“The initiative will address long-standing weaknesses in beneficiary selection by ensuring transparency, accountability and accuracy,” he told reporters.
He stressed that inclusion would not be influenced by religion, ethnicity or political affiliation, describing the programme as part of efforts to build an inclusive and humane social protection framework.
The minister noted that past experience shows financial support directed to women tends to be spent on children’s education, nutrition and healthcare, as well as small-scale income-generating activities such as poultry farming, tailoring and cottage industries.
He expressed optimism that the programme would strengthen women’s economic participation and help reduce rural poverty.
The pilot phase, conducted in 56 areas, yielded encouraging results, according to the minister.
Data collection issues were identified in two pilot areas—Jashore and Netrakona—but have since been resolved. In the remaining 54 areas, the error rate stayed below 3 percent.
Nationwide data collection will begin on August 16 using a revised questionnaire and a fully digital system.
Household information will be updated monthly to capture changes such as deaths, migration and shifts in economic status.
To ensure accountability, a three-tier monitoring mechanism has been put in place.
First-class government officials will oversee data collection at the union level, while committees led by upazila nirbahi officers, deputy commissioners and divisional commissioners will supervise implementation at respective tiers.
A national-level committee headed by the finance minister will monitor overall progress, with the prime minister receiving regular updates.
The Cabinet Division and the Finance Ministry will cross-check data to prevent duplication across social safety net programmes.
In addition, independent evaluations will be carried out by the Finance Division, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), and local and international universities.
The Family Card programme, a key election pledge of the government, aims to establish a single, regularly updated database of poor and vulnerable households to streamline and improve the delivery of all future social safety net benefits.