Payments will begin on Saturday for 123,000 teachers and employees of MPO-listed private educational institutions who have been waiting for years to receive their retirement and welfare benefits.
The payments will be distributed simultaneously across all 64 districts. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to inaugurate the program at a ceremony at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka.
According to Education Ministry sources, 70,119 beneficiaries will receive payments from the Retirement Benefit Board, while 53,477 will receive funds from the Non-Government Educational Institution Teachers and Employees Welfare Trust.
The government had initially planned to provide benefits to 119,000 teachers and employees. The number was later increased to 123,000 following a rise in applications.
Around Tk2,100 crore in special allocation
The government has allocated around Tk2,100 crore as a special block allocation for the payments. Of this, around Tk1,500 crore has been earmarked for the Retirement Benefit Board and Tk600 crore for the Welfare Trust.
Education Ministry officials said the initiative was taken to ease the hardship of retired teachers and employees whose dues have remained unpaid for extended periods.
How much will beneficiaries receive initially?
According to officials, teachers and employees will initially receive around Tk450,000 each as retirement benefits. The remaining dues will be paid in phases.
Beneficiaries receiving welfare benefits will initially receive around Tk239,000. Any additional amount owed will also be paid later.
Due to limited funds, the authorities decided to make partial payments rather than settle all outstanding dues at once, allowing a larger number of teachers and employees to receive benefits in the first phase.
Funds built from employee contributions
The retirement and welfare funds are financed through teachers’ and employees’ contributions, interest earned on bank deposits and government block allocations, among other sources.
Until 2019, contributions were collected at 6% of basic salary for retirement benefits and 4% for welfare benefits.
Sources said a large number of applications for retirement benefits have remained pending with the Retirement Benefit Board for years. As a result, further applications will have to be processed in phases even after the latest disbursement.
The Education Ministry considers the simultaneous distribution of retirement and welfare benefits to such a large number of teachers and employees a significant initiative after years of delays.
