Pension under new rules for new employees of government banks No new employee of Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA), Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), banking, insurance and capital market sectors will get pension as per existing rules. The same rule will apply to all state-owned banks including Sonali Bank, Agrani Bank, and all government banks including Krishi, Employment Bank. Even in Padma Oil, Yamuna Oil, the government owns more than 50 percent of the shares, such companies do not have the existing pension system for newly joined employees. It has been learned by analyzing the new notification issued on March 13 by the finance department of the finance ministry regarding pension. According to the notification, those who will join new jobs in these institutions after July 1, will have to come under a pension scheme called ‘Praytaya’. However, currently the retired employees of these organizations will get the pension in the same way. Employees of organizations with 10 years of service can come under the new scheme or remain in the existing scheme. The officers and employees of all self-governing or autonomous institutions of the country, including Dhaka University, must come under the Pratyaya Pension Program compulsorily if they want to get pension. Currently, the government has four pension schemes namely Pragati, Prabas, Suraksha and Samata. In these programs, which were launched on August 17 last year, 26 thousand 851 people including local and expatriate Bangladeshis have become customers till March 14. The finance department announced the outline of the verification program on Wednesday.
Those who join the service of self-governing, autonomous, state-owned, statutory or homogeneous organizations after next July will be mandatorily included in the verification programme. This will not prejudice the interests of the existing officers or employees. In response to the question whether the confirmation program will be applicable to the new employees of Bangladesh Bank, the member of the National Pension Authority said. Golam Mostafa told Prothom Alo, ‘Bangladesh Bank is an autonomous institution established by law. The notification clearly states everything without mentioning the name of the institution. The matter will be discussed in the board of Bangladesh Bank. Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson and Executive Director Majbaul Haque said, they will analyze the notification now, whether the confirmation will apply to their new employees or not. The Finance Department said that in the existing system, very few self-governing, autonomous, state-owned, statutory or homogeneous organizations and their subordinate bodies have pension schemes. The officers and employees of most of the organizations are covered by Anutosho and the Provident Provident Fund (CPF) system is applicable to them. In this system, the employees get a one-time gratuity as a retirement benefit at the end of the service but do not get monthly pension.
State-owned enterprises and autonomous bodies are defined in the notification for making certification mandatory. It has been said that state-owned enterprise means any business enterprise, company, bank, insurance, financial institution or any institution related to industry and trade or similar, which is managed with more than 50 percent government funding. And autonomous bodies are defined as those which are created by any law. It includes any authority, corporation, commission, organization, public university, institution, council, academy, trust, board, foundation etc. Bangladesh University Teachers Association Federation has claimed that the issuance of notification has created frustration and dissatisfaction among the teachers of the public universities of the country. Recently, the president of the federation, Prof. Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan and Secretary General Prof. In a statement signed by Akhtarul Islam, it is said that different policies for teachers, officials and employees under the same salary structure are in conflict with the basic spirit of the constitution. It is also necessary to consider whether there is a problem of confronting the government of the university teachers. Federation seeks withdrawal of notification. According to the finance department, the benefits will be met The Finance Department said that in the existing CPF system, the employee contributes 10 percent of the basic salary and the organization contributes 8.33 percent of the basic salary. In the confirmation program, the organization will pay equal to the basic salary ie 10 percent. It is 1.67 percent higher than the existing CPF system. In the verification program, if an employee contributes 2 thousand 500 taka per month from his own salary and the related organization contributes the same amount of taka for 30 years, after retirement i.e. from the age of 60, the employee will get a pension at the rate of 62 thousand 330 taka per month. 10 percent of employees’ basic salary or a maximum of Tk 5,000 – whichever is lower – will be deducted from their salary for participating in the verification program and the corresponding amount will be paid by the concerned organization or organization. Both amounts will then be deposited with the National Pension Authority. ICB chairman Suvarna Barua told Prothom Alo that the nature of the notification says that it will apply to new employees of ICB. It is not yet time to assess how well it will fare in the final judgment.