When the government employees have to suffer in various ways to collect pension money at the end of their job, a fraudulent circle is swindling huge sums of retirement money in connivance with the officials involved in various branches of the state-owned banks.
It is learned that even after the death of pensioners, government funds have been deposited in their accounts year after year. Until the initial introduction of the new Electric Fund Transfer (EFT) system from December 2015, all the activities of pension scheme were done in analogue system. Taking the opportunity, this vested quarter used to collect death persons’ pension money in collusion with the bank officials, mostly at the upazila level.
A media report in a national daily on Monday said that about two lakh ‘ghost’ pension beneficiaries have been identified at the beginning of the pension scheme of retired government employees under the EFT. Because of these illegal pensioners, Tk 2400 crore has been lost in the last financial year alone and the entire money went to the pocket of that fraud circle.
However, of the phony pension beneficiaries, the accounts of 1.5 lakh have already been blocked where the real pensioners had not been found or had died. And closing of another 50,000 accounts is in the process. Currently, 5.35 lakh pension beneficiaries are coming under the EFT. So far, the people concerned are unable to say exactly how much money has been swindled over the years.
Mentionable that the government, on the occasion of Mujib’s centenary, 100 per cent pension activities will be brought under EFT by February 15. Then concerned people will be instructed not to pay any pensioner by cheque or advice. But once in a year, the pensioners have to report to the pension accounting office in person to ensure that the pensioners’ survive.
As reported, Transparency International of Bangladesh (TIB) also hailed the introduction of the EFT, terming it positive as the system would help curb corruption and irregularities. It will be possible to identify the people who have swindled the pension money. We also think that they should be identified and brought under the law.
It is assumed that if someone goes to collect pension money with fake documents and the bank official pay even after recognizing him, and then the fake pensioner has collusion with the official. In this way the incidents of the fraud have happened year after year. It can be stopped only when the entire pension system will be brought under the total digital system.
