Salary scale for imam-muezzins soon: Khalid

Adviser to the Ministry of Religious Affairs Dr AFM Khalid Hossain has said the government has taken the initiative to create a salary scale for imams and muezzins.

A gazette will be published after getting approval from the Chief Adviser soon so that they can improve their livelihood and they can perform their duties with dedication, he said.

The adviser said this during a views exchange meeting with teachers of mosque-based child and mass education programme and khatibs, imams, and muezzins at Patuakhali Islamic Foundation auditorium, a PID handout here said.

Khalid Hossain said imams and muezzins are highly respected figures in society. But they have been neglected for ages, he said adding that even though there is sufficient money in the mosque-madrasa fund, they are not given appropriate salaries and allowances to maintain their livelihood.

For this reason, he said the Ministry of Religious Affairs is working to create a unified salary structure that is in line with the 2015 salary scale.

Addressing minority issues, Dr AFM Khalid Hossain said, "No incident of attack on minorities in Bangladesh occurred out of religious extremism. All attacks have political reasons,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Abu Hasnat Mohammad Arefin, Governor of Islamic Foundation Board Syed Mohammad Masaddek Billah Al Madani and Maulana Shah Md Nesarrul Haque, among others, spoke on the occasion while DD of Islamic Foundation Asma Akther was in the chair.