Family Card beneficiary list to be updated every four years

Authorities will remove households deemed financially solvent when the rolls come up for revision

The government has decided that the implementation of the Family Card programme will be reviewed every six months, while the beneficiary list will be updated every four years.

The development was announced on Monday after a meeting of the cabinet committee on the Family Card scheme.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said the meeting reviewed administrative costs of the programme and approved its implementation framework.

“This programme will be reviewed every six months to see how and where money is being spent. The list will be updated every four years, and well-off individuals will be removed,” he added.

The Ministry of Finance said the meeting also finalised the Family Card Pilot Implementation (Amendment) Guidelines 2026 alongside granting policy approval to the draft Family Card Implementation Policy 2026.

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman launched the social safety net scheme on Mar 10, shortly after the party formed the government.

Under the election pledge, women beneficiaries of the scheme, which is still being rolled out, receive Tk 2,500 a month.

Khosru said Tk 140 billion has been allocated in the national budget for the project, adding that the allocations were transparently designed to transform lives without leaving any citizen behind.

He described the inclusive fiscal planning as the “democratisation of the economy, aiming to establish true economic democracy”.

The veteran leader explained that without such measures, one group would benefit through patronage politics while the rest of the population would be shut out of the economy's gains, which is not desirable for a democracy, adding that the government is working to change this.

Asked what would happen to a Family Card if a poor man's wife died, the minister replied that the person would become eligible for a Farmer Card, universal healthcare and an old-age allowance, among other options.

He, however, said relying on such cards alone is not the goal, and that everyone should work towards building a more productive nation.

"We want to build this country into a hardworking, skilled nation. The mindset of 'the government will provide, so I'll just sit back' has to change. We will help where it's needed, and we are doing so, including through the Family Card. But everyone has to build their own skills.”

"Everyone has to earn their money through hard work. That's the key to moving a country's economy forward," he added.