Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today responded to a starred question from the treasury bench lawmaker representing the Sylhet-2 constituency in the House. Photo: PMO

SANGSAD BHABAN, April 1, 2026 (BSS) - Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today told the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) that the government has taken necessary steps to formulate action plans for the next 180 days, the upcoming fiscal year and the next five years to implement its election pledges.

"All ministries/divisions are taking necessary initiatives to formulate action plans for the next 180 days, the next fiscal year, and the next 5 years to implement the government's election commitments," he said. 

The premier said this while replying to a starred question from treasury bench lawmaker from Sylhet-2 constituency Tahsina Rushdir in the House with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed in the chair.

Tarique Rahman, also ruling BNP chairman, said that notable progress has already been made in implementing several important pledges outlined in the manifesto. 

To ensure protection for marginal and low-income families, he said, the government has launched the 'Family Card' programme on a pilot basis, covering 37,814 women-head families in 15 wards across 13 districts.

He said the government has also taken initiative to introduce 'Farmer Card' to ensure comprehensive support for farmers, adding that initially, the pilot programme will be carried out in 11 blocks under 11 upazilas in 10 districts across eight divisions through the Department of Agricultural Extension.

In addition, the premier said, agricultural loans up to Taka 10,000 for farmers in crop, livestock and fisheries sectors have already been waived to fulfill the election pledge.

As part of the government's election pledges, he said, ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, honorarium allowances have been disbursed to a total of 9,102 beneficiaries, including 3,295 imams, 2,975 muezzins and 2,604 khadems of mosques, 114 Hindu priests and 83 sebaits, and 15 Buddhist priests and 16 deputy priests through their bank accounts.

On healthcare, the Prime Minister said a project is awaiting approval to issue 25 lakh e-health cards in Khulna district under a pilot programme.

Tarique Rahman said that the government launched a nationwide programme on March 16 this year to excavate and re-excavate 20,000 kilometers of canals across the country over the next five years.

By June 2026, he said, the Ministry of Water Resources, Local Government Division and Ministry of Agriculture will excavate or re-excavate 1,204 kilometers of canals, while the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief will re-excavate or renovate an additional 1,500 kilometers under the food-for-work and cash-for-work and test relief (TR) programmes.

As part of planting 25 crore trees in the next five years and creating green employment, the Prime Minister said 1.5 crore saplings of various species have already been produced, which will be planted during the upcoming monsoon season.

In the education sector, he said the government has a plan to distribute free school uniforms among 200,000 primary school children within the current fiscal year.

Tarique Rahman also said that within the next 180 days, 9,000 teachers of technical institutions will be provided with tablets, 3,832 multimedia classrooms will be established, and 172 students will receive Italian and Japanese language training.

Additionally, initiatives have been taken to introduce free Wi-Fi in 418 technical and madrasas institutions by June this year, he added.

To improve sports infrastructure, the premier said, a central committee has been formed to determine playgrounds and develop infrastructure in both urban and rural areas.

He further said that a committee has been formed to ensure effective management of high-tech and software parks and ICT centers, as well as to take effective steps to launch PayPal services in Bangladesh.

Giving priority to the election pledges, Tarique Rahman said, the government has already introduced ‘Sports Allowance’ for national athletes under a salary structure, with a plan to bring 500 athletes under the scheme.

In the first phase, 129 internationally successful athletes have already received allowances, he added.

The Prime Minister noted that the unsecured loan limit for language student visas has been increased from Taka 300,000 to Taka 10 lakh, and the loan process has been simplified for students going to Japan through Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) before obtaining a visa.

Replying to a supplementary question from the same lawmaker, Tarique Rahman said the government is going to launch the ‘Farmer Card’ on April 14 this year on the occasion of the Pahela Baishakh.

Primarily about 22,000 farmers will come under the project, he said.

Noting that there are about 2.75 crore farmers across the country, the Prime Minister said all farmers will come under the project gradually.