Home
+
Published : 12 May 2026, 08:55 PM
The Universal Pension Scheme has seen a dramatic collapse in momentum following the fall of the Awami League government, with new registrations effectively drying up over the last 20 months.
Data presented at a government meeting on Tuesday showed that while the scheme attracted 372,401 subscribers during its first year of operation, that number has grown by a mere 5,144 in the nearly two years since.
As of Apr 30, 2026, the total number of citizens registered across the four primary packages -- Probash, Progoti, Surokkha, and Shomota -- stands at 377,545.
Launched by the Sheikh Hasina administration on Aug 17, 2023, the scheme was initially marketed as a transformative social safety net.
The pace of enrolment, however, plummeted following the political changeover on Aug 5 last year.
The statistics reveal a stark disparity, with 372,401 new members joining between August 2023 and August 2024, compared with only 5,144 new members between August 2024 and April 2026.
The total pension fund has reached Tk 2.55 billion, with the total investment, including profit, standing at Tk 2.79 billion.
Presiding over the meeting, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury acknowledged the challenges but reiterated the government’s commitment to the 2026 election manifesto.
He set a bold target to include at least one member from each of the country's 40 million families by 2030.
The minister has proposed several incentives, including introducing Shariah-based options through an Islamic pension window to attract a wider demographic, to end the near-stalemate.
He has also suggested providing lifetime pension benefits for the nominees of deceased subscribers.
He has proposed expanding the scheme to include outsourcing workers under the “Pragati” scheme.
The meeting noted that with Bangladesh’s elderly dependency ratio expected to climb to 48 percent by 2075, a functional pension system is non-negotiable, according to a media release issued on the meeting proceedings.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged a $100 million soft loan to strengthen the system, and feasibility studies are currently underway.
Currently, subscriptions are collected through 45 banks and mobile financial services including bKash and Nagad.
