Photo: Collected
The number of enrollments in the Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) is growing slowly with around 54000 people having joined the scheme in eight months.
Golam Mostofa, a member of the National Pension Authority (NPA) and additional secretary of the Ministry of Finance, confirmed this to the media on Tuesday (16 April).
He said around Tk43.62 cores have been deposited in government funds through participation in four schemes.
“Out of which, 598 people have been enrolled under migration scheme ‘Probash’, 11,105 people to the Progoti, 16376 people to the ‘Surakkha’ and 26580 people to the Samata scheme,” he pointed out.
Among these schemes, is 'Probash' for Expatriate Bangladeshi Citizens): Any Bangladeshi citizen working or staying abroad can participate in this scheme by paying the prescribed rate of contribution in foreign currency.
“The way people are participating, very soon that number will go to lakhs. It was slow for a while in between, but now people's interest and participation have increased. Hopefully, this momentum will continue. We are holding a pension fair for the campaign,” Mostofa said.
According to the pension rules, in the universal pension system, the more money is deposited, the more pension will be given at the end of the term.
On the other hand, this initiative will not divert the low-income people either. For those who will deposit Tk500 monthly, there will be another Tk500 subsidy from the government from the beginning. All in all, there is an additional multifold profit for everyone at the end of the specified period.
Despite attractive return scope after the specific tenure, people are enrolling in very slow space due to a lack of trust in the funds returning, said economists and sector insiders.
Messenger/Sumon
