Around 8,000 people signed up for the Universal Pension Scheme on the first day following its inauguration, and around 1,700 of them deposited their first instalments after completing the application process.
On Friday, Finance Division sources said that around 6,000 people signed up till Thursday afternoon after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the scheme in the morning. Later around midnight, the number went up to about 8,000.
They said the number of applications and depositors is increasing every moment as the whole process can be completed online any time of the day. They expect the number to significantly increase in the upcoming days.
There are four schemes under Universal Pension: Probas, Progoti, Surokkha and Samata. Through them, private sector employees and migrant workers will get pensions ranging from a minimum of 2.30 to 12.31 times their total instalments.
People aged between 18 and 50 can join the Universal Pension Scheme, and those aged 60 and above can avail of life-term pension facilities.
People aged 50 and above can also be included in the scheme, and in that case, they will get a pension after providing instalments for 10 years.
In an effort to bring the elderly and all people aged above 18 under a sustainable social security system, Prime Minister Hasina inaugurated the much-talked-about pension scheme on Thursday.
The age limit for pension schemes was initially fixed at 50 years but it was later revised.
Those who want to enrol in the Universal Pension Scheme will have to register first and people aged 18 and above can join the scheme by using their National Identity Card.
