The government has set a target to bring all public servants under the Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) introduced in 2023, Finance Secretary Khairuzzaman Majumder said on Wednesday.
“Ultimately, our goal is to bring the government employees under the Universal Pension Scheme,” he said while responding to questions at the inaugural ceremony of the UPension App at the finance ministry, where Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed was the chief guest.
The Finance Secretary noted that although it was initially planned to bring all public servants under the UPS by July 2025, the process was suspended.
“Now it will be done gradually, and the target has not been scrapped yet; it has only been suspended,” he added.
He referred to India’s pension system, where all public servants are under a single universal scheme, and said Bangladesh plans to follow a similar approach gradually. Since the system’s inception in 2023, around 375,000 persons have already been enlisted under the UPS.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan said public university teachers had initially opposed joining the UPS, as they felt the benefits would be lower than under the existing system.
“We have to address those concerns. There might be a slight reduction in benefits, but it should not be significantly different from the existing pension system,” he said.
Executive Chairman of the National Pension Authority Md Mohiuddin Khan, also spoke at the program.
The UPS is a government-led, contributory pension program designed to provide a structured retirement safety net for all citizens aged 18 and above.
The finance secretary said critics had pointed out that non-government jobholders lacked such protection, common in developed countries.
“After several years of study by the Finance Division, we have introduced the system to provide protection for private-sector workers. This is a very good package,” he added.