Universal pension scheme to see major changes, ‘Islamic version’ in review

Several major changes have been approved for the universal pension scheme, including a proposal to assess the introduction of an “Islamic version”.

These decisions were taken during the second meeting of the National Pension Authority’s governing board on Wednesday.

The session, presided over by Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed, resulted in a series of policy shifts, according to a press release issued by the finance ministry.

Key decisions include:

>> Contributors who reach pensionable age and wish to do so will be allowed to withdraw up to 30 percent of their total deposits as a one-time financial benefit.

>> The minimum monthly contribution to the ''Probash” and “Progoti” schemes will be reduced from Tk 2,000 to Tk 1,000. The maximum monthly deposit in the "Progoti" scheme will be raised from Tk 10,000 to Tk 15,000.

>> Service workers engaged under outsourcing contracts will be included in the “Progoti” scheme.

>> The proposal to introduce an Islamic version of the pension scheme will be reviewed and presented in the next meeting.

The universal pension scheme was introduced by the now-ousted Awami League government in August 2023 to ensure financial security for people from all backgrounds in their later years.

So far, around 400,000 people have enrolled in the programme, which currently includes four categories— Probash (for expatriate Bangladeshi citizens), Progoti (for officers/employees of privately owned/non-government institutions), Surakkha (for self employed citizens), and Samata (for self employed but very poor citizens).

Bangladeshi citizens aged between 18 and 50 can register for the scheme using their National ID.

Those aged above 50 can also access pension benefits by contributing for 10 consecutive years.