Jumbangla Desk: After completing the registration in the universal pension scheme, 3 lakh 72 thousand 378 people have already submitted their contributions. The amount of money deposited by them is 130 crore 96 lakh 83 thousand taka. Out of this, Tk 124 crore 99 lakh 55 thousand 669 has been invested in various government treasury bonds. Profit is also coming from this investment.

Universal Pension

Registrations have slowed since the fall of the government, even though the public pension scheme is largely invested and has good returns. In the last one month only about two hundred people have completed the registration and paid the subscription. However, before the fall of the Awami League government, about 250,000 new registrations were made in the three months of May, June and July.

According to the relevant sources, the first investment of Universal Pension Scheme subscription money was made on 17 October 2023. At that time 10 crore 66 lakh 84 thousand 968 rupees were bought for 10 years treasury bond. The coupon rate of this bond is 9.20 percent. Currently the value of the bond is Tk 11 crore 31 lakh.

After the fall of the Awami League government, the first investment of public pension money was made on August 13. On that day, a 5-year treasury bond was bought for 24 crore 2 lakh 2 thousand 691 taka. The current value of this bond with a coupon rate of 10.35 percent is Tk. 25 crores and 25 lakhs.

Then on December 26, 2023, 15-year treasury bonds were bought with 8 crore 68 lakh 53 thousand 179 taka. The coupon rate of this bond is 8.55 percent. Currently the value of this bond is 10 crore rupees.

This year, the first treasury bond was bought with pension scheme money on February 20. 10 crore 1 lakh 44 thousand 402 rupees were bought for 10 years treasury bonds. The current value of this treasury bond with a coupon rate of 12.05 percent is Tk 10 crore.

Then on April 16, 10-year treasury bonds were bought for 11.6 million 18 thousand 558 taka. The current value of this bond with a coupon rate of 12.15 percent is 11.6 million taka. Another 10-year Treasury bond was invested on May 21. The current value of this bond bought for 21 crore 30 lakh 16 thousand 371 taka is 21 crore 50 lakh taka. Its coupon rate is not known.

A month later, on June 25, 15-year treasury bonds were invested in 30 crore 40 lakh 43 thousand 692 rupees. The current value of this bond with a coupon rate of 12.15 percent is Tk 306 million. This is the last investment in pension money during the Awami League government.

In the last one month and 5 days, only 284 people have completed registration in the new pension scheme. As of October 14 afternoon, the number of people registered in the universal pension scheme has reached 3 lakh 72 thousand 378 people. And the amount of subscription they submitted is 130 crore 96 lakh 83 thousand taka. Out of this, 124 crore 99 lakh 55 thousand 669 rupees have been invested in government treasury bonds.

The pension money was first invested on August 13 after the fall of the Awami League government. On that day, a 5-year treasury bond was bought for 24 crore 2 lakh 2 thousand 691 taka. The current value of this bond with a coupon rate of 10.35 percent is Tk. 25 crores and 25 lakhs.

Then on September 17, 10-year treasury bonds were bought with 8 crore 29 lakh 91 thousand 808 taka. The current value of this bond with a coupon rate of 12.60 percent is Tk 8 crore. It has the highest coupon rate of any Treasury bond ever bought with pension money.

In total, a total of 124 crores 99 lakhs 55 thousand 669 rupees of treasury bonds have been purchased in 8 rounds with the subscription money of the universal pension scheme. The current value of these treasury bonds is Tk 128 crore 26 lakh. That is, 3 crore 26 lakh 44 thousand 331 rupees more than the current price with which the treasury bonds were bought.

Expatriates are at the bottom both in terms of subscription and registration. Prabas scheme has been launched for expatriate Bangladeshis staying abroad. 910 people have subscribed to this scheme. The amount of contribution they submitted is 4 crore 85 lakh 24 thousand taka.

The government launched the Universal Pension Scheme last year to bring people from all walks of life under a sustainable and well-structured social security framework. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Universal Pension Scheme on August 17 last year. After that the application starts. The government introduced universal pension with four schemes initially - 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 is effective from last July 1. However, in the wake of the teachers' movement, the certification scheme was later scrapped. As such, there are currently four schemes in operation namely immigration, progress, protection and equality.

In the beginning, there was a huge response of people to the universal pension, but sometimes there was a slowness in the registration. However, since April of this year, the number of people who have registered and contributed to the public pension has been increasing. 60,000 people completed registration in April. In that month, the number of registrations in public pension touched the milestone of 1 lakh.

That is, after 8 months of the launch of the universal pension scheme, the number of people who have completed the registration has touched one lakh. After that, a large number of people completed the registration and submitted the subscription in May and June. In this, the number of people who have completed registration has increased to about 350,000 from the beginning of July. And the amount of subscription is about 100 crore rupees.

However, after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government, the speed of registration in the pension scheme slowed down. Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 and left the country in the face of the students' movement. The students' movement against Sheikh Hasina's government started from the middle of July. Since the beginning of the student movement, enrollment in the pension scheme has slowed down.

According to the relevant sources, 3 lakh 40 thousand 242 people have completed registration by paying the subscription in the public pension scheme till the afternoon of July 2. And the amount of subscription they submitted was 99 crore 80 lakh 12 thousand 500 taka. Two months after that, till the afternoon of September 9, the number of people who completed registration by paying the subscription to the public pension scheme stood at 3 lakh 72 thousand 94 people. And the amount of contribution they submitted is 123 crore 56 lakh 84 thousand taka. Of this, 116 crore 69 lakh rupees are invested in government treasury bonds.

Then in the last one month and 5 days, only 284 people have completed registration in the new pension scheme. As of October 14 afternoon, the number of people registered in the universal pension scheme has reached 3 lakh 72 thousand 378 people. And the amount of subscription they submitted is 130 crore 96 lakh 83 thousand taka. Out of this, 124 crore 99 lakh 55 thousand 669 rupees have been invested in government treasury bonds.

Poor people, whose annual income is up to 60,000 taka, are leading the way in registering for the pension scheme. Samata scheme has been introduced for people of this income. The monthly subscription amount of this scheme is 1 thousand rupees. Of this, 500 rupees will be paid by the scheme recipient and the remaining 500 rupees will be paid by the government. The number of registrants in this scheme stands at 2 lakh 85 thousand 884 people. And the amount of subscription is 41 crore 70 lakh 29 thousand taka.

On the other hand, private sector employees have deposited the highest amount towards contributions by accepting pension schemes. 47 crore 25 lakh 500 rupees have been deposited in the progress scheme launched for them. The number of registrants in this scheme stands at 22,410.

Expatriates are at the bottom both in terms of subscription and registration. Expatriate scheme has been launched for expatriate Bangladeshis staying abroad. 910 people have subscribed to this scheme. The amount of subscription they submitted is 4 crore 85 lakh 24 thousand taka.

Besides, protection schemes have been introduced for people working in the informal sector or self-employed such as farmers, rickshaw pullers, labourers, blacksmiths, potters, fishermen, weavers etc. 63 thousand 174 people accepted this scheme and paid the subscription. The amount of contribution they submitted is 37 crore 16 lakh 30 thousand taka.

When asked about the reason for the decrease in the registration rate in the pension scheme, Golam Mostafa, a member of the Public Pension Authority, said, 'We gave a drive involving the local administration, at which time the participation increased significantly. It started with cable, then suddenly we couldn't go on the campaign either. And it takes a while to gear up to the changed context.'

Expatriate participation in pension schemes is very low. In this context, Golam Mostafa said, 'On behalf of the pension authority, we could not go directly to the expatriates. We have tried to involve the embassies in this work. The embassies did not give the drive, I will not say that at all, they did. But I think I didn't reach them the way I should have.'

Source: Jagonews