Staff Reporter:
Finance Secretary Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman Mozumder yesterday said that building a sustainable social security framework has become a demand of time for establishing a welfare-oriented state.
He stressed the need to bring people from all walks of life under the pension structure to ensure long-term social and financial security.
“If citizens aged above 18 years can be brought under the Universal Pension Schemes – Probash, Progo-ti, Surakkha and Samata – an organized social and financial security system can be established,” he said.
The Finance Secretary made the remarks while addressing a workshop titled “Capacity and Prospects of the National Pension Authority” held at the conference room of the National Pension Authority (NPA) office on Saturday.
He directed the National Pension Authority to strengthen publicity and awareness campaigns, arrange seminars and workshops, and organize meetings involving different social groups to expand participation in the pension schemes.
Dr. Mozumder also underscored the importance of developing an effective communication strategy and assured all possible cooperation from the Finance Division in this regard.
The workshop was organized to identify the existing challenges in implementing the Universal Pension Scheme and explore ways to address them, said a Finance Ministry press release yesterday.
Various issues, including different pension schemes, their rationale and features, investment and registra-tion information, existing challenges, a two-month action plan, and amendments to related regulations, were discussed at the workshop.
Participants at the event stressed the importance of involving low-income groups in the pension schemes. They also urged authorities to engage government offices and Bangladesh missions at home and abroad in promotional activities.
The speakers further recommended necessary amendments to existing rules and regulations to make the pension schemes more people-friendly.
The workshop was chaired by Executive Chairman of the National Pension Authority Dr. Md. Suratuz-zaman.
Among others, Additional Secretary of the Finance Division Dilruba Shahina, Joint Secretaries Dr. Md. Ferdous Alam and Sharif Nazrul Islam, along with other senior officials, attended the event.
NPA Member Sheikh Kamrul Hasan and General Manager Dr. Md. Ashrafuzzaman were present as dis-cussants at the workshop.
