Jumbangla Desk: According to the latest information available from the website of the National Pension Authority, a total of 372,155 customers have registered in four schemes of universal pension till Tuesday (October 15). What is the reason for people's disinterest in public pension schemes that started with high hopes? Is it becoming a failed project?

BBC Bangla talked to Md Sohail Khan, who registered under the wife's name under the equality scheme of the universal pension program at the rate of 500 taka per month under a lot of pressure five months ago. He said that even after opening an account, he is not interested in making regular contributions.

This teacher of a private high school in Patuakhali district said about paying regular subscription, if the government forces him to deposit money like opening an account compulsorily, then maybe he will deposit money again.
But it won't happen automatically.

BBC Bangla spoke to several others like Md Sohail Khan. Many of them said the same and some also expressed concern about their deposits. Because when the pension is finally needed, they are worried about whether they will get this money back or not. Although the government has given repeated assurances in this regard.

Pension authority officials also said that about 20 percent of subscribers have stopped paying their contributions and the number of new registrants has also dropped sharply.

Sohail Khan, a teacher in Patuakhali, believes that the universal pension program was started 'through a cunning policy to tackle the financial crisis'.

From the beginning he did not want to deposit money here. But, they were forced to submit.

'With the salary structure we have, it is very difficult for us to move around. Everyone is burdened with debt to maintain the standard of living. I have to eat first and then survive.'

As a result, he is not interested in this pension scheme.

Yesterday, Monday, October 14th, Finance Advisor Dr. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Public Pension Authority was held under the chairmanship of Salehuddin Ahmed.

The meeting suggested that pension authorities should work to restore consumer confidence. Also, they have asked to take 'necessary changes' to increase the number of customers.

Informing this, Sohail Khan was asked whether he would start depositing money if the interim government promised that the customers would definitely benefit from this.

His reply was, 'I will not continue. First, our scale is small. Also, with the bargain price of things, if the money goes out of my hand, it becomes difficult for me to move around.'

Talked about this with another teacher from the same area. A few days before the start of the quota reform movement, he registered with two thousand rupees.

The teacher, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had no intention of registering. But he registered under the words of the Upazila Nirbahi Officer. However, later he also did not deposit any more money.

This female teacher who joined the job in 2019 said, 'After joining, the increment has not been paid yet. In this situation, it will be difficult for me to manage my family if I deposit two thousand rupees every month. Thinking about what will happen after 10 years, it is not possible to keep money now.'

Meanwhile, some people who have not yet registered are also spoken to. But they each said none of them 'believed' in the universal pension scheme.

However, economists and sector stakeholders say that many people had already assumed that there would be such complications with the pension scheme.

Many complain that once enrolled in a pension scheme and start paying contributions, there is no option to cancel it for urgent needs.

Many people have complaints about the government service system of this country. Even the availability of existing pensions for government employees is said to be suffering. As a result, many people have doubts about whether pension will be available easily and hassle-free after the said period of pension.

Md Golam Mostafa, a member of Pension Authority, said, 'Earlier the enrollment was regular. After the change of government, we could not campaign. Enrollment was low then.'

Therefore, the board has also advised the pension authorities to attract customers. If there is a need to make any changes from time to time, then there is that opportunity,' he said.

When asked what kind of change, he said, 'There is no insurance connection with the subscription of our scheme, but there is in different countries of the world. If we see that there is a need to add insurance, it is convenient for the pensioners and the pensioners want to do it, or if it increases the number of subscribers, we can make changes here.'

'A worker, if he meets with an accident, his contribution will stop. So, if there is insurance, he might get that benefit from there,' he explained.

Besides, 'the pensionable age is increasing in different countries of the world. Such changes can also come.'

Noting that the focus was on campaigning to popularize the universal pension scheme, he said that after August 5, they were "hesitating to campaign" as the 'environment was not favourable'.

With assurances from the interim government, 'we are campaigning again. The board said, do whatever it takes to increase enrollment. I am preparing for that. We will again go to the route level through the local administration. We have already started advertising.'

About the future program, he said, 'T20 match was held a few days ago, we have given our advertisement there. In the future we will advertise in new places. Workshops and fairs will be held at district and upazila levels. Will try to organize sessions in various training institutes'.

While the pension authorities are optimistic about their move, Zahid Hossain, former chief economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, feels that there are some weaknesses surrounding the entire programme. People will not respond very well if they are not fixed.

In that case, like many projects, this project will be labeled as a failed government project.

The former economist said that since the introduction of the universal pension program under the previous government, 'everyone had such a fear' that customers were not depositing money or that many new people were not registering in the pension scheme.

He said, 'There is a weakness in the way this scheme management has been designed. How cash management is done here is not specifically stated. It has been placed in the finance department.'

'Today I give money, I will get this money back after 60 years. So, what will be the status of the authority that I am paying today? Now the work is easy. You are collecting money. There is no obligation to pay. This will be the case for at least more than a decade.'

In that case, customers will be asking, 'What are they doing with my money?' He was saying.

"Whether there is scope for misgovernance or not, whether the money is properly invested in a safe place or not, whether the authority will have the financial capacity when the time comes to give the money, these need to be answered."

He also believes that to restore confidence in the public pension scheme, it is the responsibility of management to 'independent autonomous bodies outside the government' and 'efficient, financial management; Such professional staff should be given the responsibility of managing it.

At that time, he compared it with the savings card and said, 'By buying the savings card today, I am getting returns from next month. But the pension scheme has to wait for a long time. If the authority misuses the money or goes bankrupt, the situation will be like that of the depositors of Islami banks.'

However, pension authority member Md. Golam Mostafa said, 'It is a state-guaranteed program. No money here will go anywhere, hundred percent money will be in the account.'

He said it will take time to make universal pension acceptable to all.

In a country like ours, it takes time to convey the message of pension to people. If you look at history, Germany took 33 years. South Korea took the least, that too 11 years.'

'We're hoping it won't take us that long. But one year is not enough. It will take time.'

Former Secretary Abu Alam Shaheed Khan also feels that if the government supports the universal pension program and explains it well to the people, it will work.

'Our weakness is that we cannot communicate with the people. Rather, we impose it on them in a bureaucratic manner.

There was a big complaint about the pension scheme, the government will not return the money. Because of this, people were afraid. Hence, popularizing it is a difficult task. But it is a good thing that the previous government has a tendency to throw away everything, this government has not followed that path in this case.

He also mentioned that these schemes were done on the recommendation of economists.

It should be noted here that Golam Mostafa said that the profit received from the investment of the pension scheme will be calculated up to June 30 of this year and deposited in the customer's account in October.

Customers can view their deposits and profits from their accounts at home.

Source: BBC