• 52 crores of subscriptions have been collected • Almost half of the contributions were made by private sector employees • Investment 42 Crore Tk • Investment policy not finalised • Registration is 60 thousand in April itself
The government has launched the Universal Pension Scheme to bring people from all walks of life under a sustainable and well-organized social security framework. In the beginning, there was a huge response of people to the universal pension, but sometimes there is a slowness in the registration. However, in the month of April, a large number of people have registered and submitted contributions to the public pension. About 60,000 people have completed registration in one month. In this, the number of registrations in public pension has touched the milestone of 1 lakh.
On Monday (April 29), the number of registrations for public pensions touched one lakh. After completing the registration around 5 pm, the number of those who paid the subscription stood at 1 lakh 1 thousand 338 people. More than half of those who completed the registration are poor people, whose annual income is less than 60 thousand rupees. On the other hand, expatriates registered the least. Such information is known from the relevant sources of the Ministry of Finance.
According to the source, 1 lakh 1 thousand 338 people who have completed registration in the universal pension scheme have deposited more than 52 crore rupees. About 42 crore rupees have been invested from the money collected for subscription. The entire amount is invested in treasury bonds.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Universal Pension Scheme on August 17 last year. Application starts soon after. It has already been 8 months since the launch of the Universal Pension Scheme. Eight months later, the number of people who completed the registration reached one lakh. Meanwhile, there is a policy to invest the money deposited in the universal pension scheme, but it has not been finalized yet. However, the officials said that the investment policy will be finalized soon.
“We have already invested around 42 crore rupees in treasury bonds. The investment policy is in its final stage. Hopefully the investment policy will be finalized soon.’— National Pension Authority Member Golam Mustafa
Initially, the government introduced universal pension with four schemes – migration, progress, protection and equality. Later it was announced to introduce a new scheme called ‘Pratya Scheme’ in the universal pension scheme for the officers and employees of all self-governing, autonomous, state-owned, statutory or homogeneous organizations and their subordinate bodies. This scheme will be effective from July 1.
Currently, the number of contributors in four schemes is 1 lakh 1 thousand 338. The amount of contribution submitted by them is 52 crore 38 lakh 12 thousand 500 taka. After completing the registration, the employees of the private institutions have submitted the highest contribution. 24 crore 20 lakh 6 thousand 500 taka have already been deposited in the progress scheme launched for them. That is, 46.20 percent of the contributions that have been deposited in the public pension so far have been deposited by the employees of private institutions. The number of registrants in this scheme is 14 thousand 784 people.
Read more
On the other hand, most of the registrants in the public pension scheme are the poor, whose current income limit is a maximum of Rs 60,000 per annum. Equality scheme has been launched for this class of people. 54 thousand 455 people have contributed to this scheme. The amount of subscription they submitted is 7 crore 28 lakh 59 thousand taka. In other words, 53.74 percent of those registered in the public pension are poor people. The monthly subscription rate of this scheme is 1 thousand taka. 500 will be contributed by the scheme recipient and the remaining 500 will be paid by the government.
Expatriates are at the bottom both in terms of subscription and registration. Probas scheme has been launched for expatriate Bangladeshis staying abroad. 633 people have subscribed to this scheme. The amount of contribution they submitted is 3 crore 5 lakh 12 thousand 500 taka. That is, only 62 percent of the registrants are expatriates. And 5.83 percent of the total subscription came from expatriates.
The third largest contributors are those working in the informal sector or self-employed such as farmers, rickshaw pullers, labourers, blacksmiths, potters, fishermen, weavers etc. A protection scheme has been introduced for them. 31 thousand 466 people accepted this scheme and paid the subscription. The amount of contribution they submitted is 17 crore 84 lakh 34 thousand 500 taka. That is, 34.06 percent of the total subscription has come through this scheme.
Golam Mostafa, a member of the Universal Pension Authority, told Jago News, “We have already invested about Tk 42 crore in treasury bonds.” The investment policy is in its final stage. Hopefully the investment policy will be finalized soon.
Are the poor people or Samata schemes more registered due to half of the subscription being paid by the government? When asked such a question, he said that at the moment most people have registered in the Samata scheme. Either the message got through to those under the Samata scheme, so they came. And progress will come institutionally, maybe they are taking time in preparation. Everyone will come in time. Maybe one time there will be more progress, another time there will be more protection. The class that more people will come will be more.
What is the reason for the low registration even though the method of paying expatriates has been simplified? When asked such a question, he said, “We have simplified the method of paying expatriate contributions. In the account in which he remits the money, he can pay the contribution to the public pension scheme. Now the number of expatriate registrations is less. Our overall registration numbers were also low. About 60,000 people registered in April. Hopefully, the number of expatriates will also increase. Because expatriates will also understand that they will need financial and social security if they want to go back to their country.
Read more
In the universal pension scheme, a beneficiary aged 18 to 50 years will enjoy lifetime pension benefits up to the age of 60 years and a beneficiary above 50 years of age will enjoy a lifetime pension with a minimum contribution of 10 years. If the pensioner dies before attaining the age of 75 years while on pension, the nominee of the pensioner will get the pension till the remaining period of the recipient’s attaining the age of 75 years.
If the contributor dies at least 10 years before the contribution is made, the deposited money will be returned to the nominee along with the profit. Only a maximum of 50 percent of the amount deposited by the subscriber can be withdrawn as loan on the application of the subscriber.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has informed that the field administration has been actively involved to reach the universal pension at the doorstep of the people. Through the Prime Minister’s Office, ‘Public Pension Program Implementation and Coordination Committee’ has been formed at the national, divisional, district and upazila levels and specific guidelines have been given to the field administration.
Besides, the officials of the Prime Minister’s Office have been given the responsibility of departmental monitoring. Consequently, Commissioners, District Commissioners and Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) are regularly monitoring and implementing division, district and upazila wise registration. Initiatives have been taken to involve people of all classes and professions by organizing public pension fairs and workshops at departmental level.
Meanwhile, a departmental pension fair and workshop was held in Rajshahi on April 19. Later, divisional fairs will be held in the remaining seven divisions. Adequate number of flyer booklets have already been sent to the field administration for distribution and are continuing. Besides, initiatives have been taken to involve Union Digital Center entrepreneurs in the universal pension program.
