Cabinet clears draft law

The cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the National Pension Authority Act-2022 aiming to introduce universal pension scheme for citizens aged between 18 and 50 years.

The approval came at the cabinet meeting held on Monday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, said Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam while briefing journalists at the secretariat.

He said a 15-member governing board headed by the Finance Minister would be formed and a separate fund created under the National Pension Authority.

Taking the National Identity Card (NID) information as benchmark, any citizens living home or abroad are eligible to take part in the pension system, he said

However, the employees of the government and autonomous organisations will not be eligible for the Pension Scheme as they have a regular pension system, said Anwarul Islam

On March 29, this year, the government with certain terms and condition, published a draft of the National Pension Authority Act-2022.

According to the draft, any citizen aged at least 18 and at best 50 will enjoy pension benefits after paying a certain amount of deposits for 10 consecutive years under the scheme.

At their 60, the individuals will be given pension against the accumulated deposits. If any pension scheme holder dies before paying subscription for at least 10 years, they will get their deposited money with interest.

For each citizen, a separate pension account will be created. As a result, the account will remain unchanged even if a beneficiary changes his or her job.

There will be a minimum amount of monthly fee. However, expatriates will be able to pay the fee quarterly.

The installment for pension will be considered as investment and tax rebate while the monthly pension will remain out of income tax.

A beneficiary will ensure the minimum annual savings. Otherwise, his or her account will be frozen. Later, the account can be resumed by paying a late fee and the due subscription fees.

As per the draft act, none will be able to withdraw their deposited money under the scheme, but will be able to draw 50 per cent as loan against the deposit and the repayment of the loans will be deposited in the pensioner’s account.

Cabinet approves Press Council (Amendment) Act-22 draft in principle

The cabinet on Monday also approved, in principle, a draft of the Press Council (Amendment) Act-2022 keeping the provision of imposing fine for ‘false reporting’. Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam at the press briefing said the cabinet had rejected the proposal of keeping a fixed amount of fine of Tk10 lakh. He said: “The cabinet scrapped the proposal of fixed amount as fine. Instead, the Press Council will fix the amount of fine.”