Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today directed authorities concerned to find ways to make the country’s Zakat management system more effective and well organized.

The Premier issued the detective at a meeting on Zakat management held at the Cabinet Division in the Bangladesh Secretariat here, Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Md Zahidul Islam Rony confirmed the matter.

Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain (Kaikobad), Secretary of the ministry Munshi Alauddin Al Azad and As-Sunnah Foundation Chairman Shaykh Ahmadullah attended the meeting.

Rony said that during an iftar programme held on March 7 in honour of Islamic scholars and orphans, the Prime Minister had said that a proper Zakat management system could play a significant role in eliminating poverty in the country within the next 10 to 15 years.

“Today’s meeting was held in line with that statement,” he said.

About the meeting’s outcome Rony said the meeting discussed how an effective Zakat management system could contribute to poverty alleviation in the country. 

Besides, the meeting decided to reconstitute the Zakat Board, he added.

Rony said that the meeting recommended forming a committee headed by Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain (Kaikobad) with Baitul Mukarram National Mosque’s Khatib Allama Mufti Abdul Malek, As-Sunnah Foundation Chairman Shaykh Ahmadullah along with several leading Islamic economists and prominent Islamic scholars as members.

According to the Deputy Press Secretary, the Ministry of Religious Affairs will propose the names for the full committee within the next ten days. 

The committee will soon submit its recommendations to the Prime Minister regarding Zakat management and the reconstitution of the Zakat Board, Rony said.