Staff Reporter :
The government has introduced a mandatory new pension scheme titled “Prottoy” under the Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) for newly recruited employees of autonomous, state-owned, statutory, and their subordinate bodies.
The Ministry of Finance issued a notification on Wednesday and said that this scheme will be effective from July 1, 2024.
According to the SRO No-47-Act/2024 issued on March 13, all the officers or employees in the service of all self-governed, autonomous, state-owned, statutory or homogeneous organisations and their subordinate bodies, who would join in such service on July 1, 2024 and thereafter would be included under the Universal Pension Scheme Management Act.
Apart from it, on March 13, another SRO titled No-48-Act/2024 was issued which declared the outline of the Prottoy Scheme applicable to the employees of the aforesaid institutions.
UNB reports that the introduction of the “Prottoy” scheme will not prejudice the interests of the existing officers/employees of these institutions and their existing pension/gratuity benefits will remain intact, said the notification.
19,158 citizens contribute Tk 28.67 crore to Universal Pension Scheme in 6 months However, those who have a minimum of 10 years of service remaining can participate in the new scheme if they express interest.
“The future financial security of newly joined officers, employees on and after 1st July of this year will be guaranteed by participating in the “Prottoy” scheme as they will be entitled to a monthly pension during retirement,” stated in the finance ministry notification.
Most of the employees working in such establishments are covered by the gratuity and the Contributory Provident Fund (CPF). In that system, employees are entitled to a lump sum as a retirement benefit at the end of service, but no monthly pension.
As a result, they often face financial uncertainty in post-retirement life. The government introduced the “Prottoy” scheme’ as an alternative to the existing system to provide financial and social security to employees in their post-retirement life.
In the “Prottoy” system,10 percent of the basic salary of the concerned officer or employee or a maximum of Tk5000, whichever is less, will be deducted from the salary of the officer or employee and an equivalent amount will be paid by the concerned establishment or institutes for participation in the scheme.
Bangladesh Bank instructs bringing employees of financial institutions under universal pension scheme.
Then both the amounts will be deposited as quantity of that fficer/employee under the management of the National Pension Authority.
For example, after depositing the amount for 30 years from the institution or organisation concerned the person will get a pension of Tk 62330 per month after retirement at the age of 60 years.
In this case, for 30 years, the total amount of contribution paid from the employee’s own salary is Tk 9 lakh (depositing Tk 2500 per month) and the total amount of contribution paid by the concerned institution/organisation is Tk 9 lakh.
The total amount of contributions for the organisation and related employees will be Tk18 lakh. If the beneficiary dies at the age of 75, that person will get a pension of Tk1.12 crore and more in 15 years, which is 12.47 times the employee’s own deposit, said the ministry in clarifying the benefits.