Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday assured teachers of non-government educational institutions that they will no longer need to visit offices or face harassment to receive their retirement benefits and promising timely online transfer of dues directly to their bank accounts.
Speaking at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka, where he inaugurated the payment of retirement and welfare benefits for teachers and employees of private schools, colleges and madrasas, Tarique Rahman said 70,119 retired teachers received part of their dues on the day after waiting nearly four years since 2022.
The funds came from the Non-Government Educational Institutions Teachers and Employees Welfare Trust and the Retirement Benefits Board. The prime minister said teachers should never have to pay bribes or make repeated office visits to access their own money, calling such harassment a "national disgrace."
He blamed the previous government for making the two funds insolvent through fake indexing and by moving money into weak banks, which halted payments since 2022. Despite financial constraints, he said, the current government prioritised clearing the backlog through special arrangements.
Tarique Rahman credited his mother, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia for founding the Welfare Trust in 1991 and the Retirement Benefits Board in 2002, building the funds from an initial Tk.14 crore to Tk 89 crore.
The government has allocated Tk.2,035.86 crore as a one-time payment, with funds being disbursed simultaneously to beneficiaries across all 64 districts through the iBAS++ system.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon were among those present.
