A state-funded monthly allowance scheme for clergy from all major faiths in Bangladesh has sparked mixed reactions from religious leaders in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman launched the scheme during a March 14 event in the national capital, Dhaka.
The scheme was a pre-election pledge of Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which won the national election by a landslide on Feb. 12 and formed the government.
“This program seeks to recognize the sacrifices and services of religious leaders and ensure their financial well-being,” Rahman said during the launch.
Under the scheme, each mosque is entitled to receive 10,000 taka (US$81) a month.
The amount includes 5,000 taka for an imam, 3,000 taka for a muezzin (prayer caller), and 2,000 taka each for khadems (caretakers).
The head priest in Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian worship places would also receive 5,000 taka a month, and the assistant is entitled to 3,000 taka.
In Bangladesh, religious clergymen sustain themselves on donations and contributions from their people.
Mosque committees support imams, Hindu priests receive the temple offerings, Buddhist monks get donations, and Christian clergy receive contributions from local Christians.
Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist leaders have welcomed the scheme.
However, Christian clergy, particularly Catholic officials, declined the allowance.
Oblate Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of Dhaka, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB), addressed the launch event and said the Church appreciates the scheme but would not accept the offer.
The prelate said that Christian clergy, especially Catholic priests, traditionally rely on voluntary donations from believers, fostering a close spiritual relationship with the faithful and encouraging a simple lifestyle.
However, he said the church would welcome government support for social and community development, such as infrastructure construction and repair, and stipends for poor students.
Father Joy Joseph Quiah, a parish priest based at Rangamati district in southeastern Bangladesh under the Chattogram Archdiocese, said donations and contributions from Catholics are enough for priests.
Other faith leaders welcomed the move.
“Our priests live on a limited income, so it is sometimes difficult for us to manage our livelihood,” Subhash Chakraborty, a priest at Chanakutia Kalibari Temple in Keraniganj on the outskirts of Dhaka, told UCA News.
“Receiving a monthly grant from the government will be helpful,” he said.
Mohiuddin Kasem, an imam at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, described the decision as a positive step.
“We are very pleased with this initiative and appreciate the government,” he told UCA News, expressing hope that the benefits would gradually reach imams across the country.
Sunanda Priyo, general secretary of the Bangladesh Buddhist Federation, said state support for religious leaders was a positive development.
“Our religious leaders have not received much financial support from anywhere. Therefore, the state’s patronage is certainly a positive step,” he told UCA News.
About 90 percent of Bangladesh’s more than 170 million people are Muslims, according to official data. Hindus account for 8 percent, and the rest belong to other faiths, including Christianity and Buddhism.