The Cabinet on Monday gave final approval to the draft of the ‘President’s Pension, Gratuity, and other Privileges Bill, 2015’, with the provision that presidents whose tenures are declared illegal or unconstitutional by the higher court would be ineligible for the benefits.
The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat yesterday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan relayed that the draft law states if any court declares the assumption of office by any president as illegal and unconstitutional, then he or she will not be eligible for receiving the pension.
The draft law was placed before the Cabinet meeting on December 15, 2014 where the Cabinet directed the Cabinet Division to update the law with the said provision.
Besides, the cabinet secretary said the existing President’s Pension Ordinance of 1979 was amended in 1988 making the ordinance applicable from 1988, but the new proposed law kept a provision for making the law effective backdated to the country’s birth as per the earlier directives of the Cabinet.
The nominees or the descendants of the Presidents could claim the pension, he added. Answering a query, the cabinet secretary said that Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad, who incidentally have had their assumption of the presidency declared illegal in separate HC rulings, did not receive pension as former presidents. Besides, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also did not receive pension as former President.
The Cabinet also gave final approval to the draft of the ‘The Bangladesh Coinage (amendment) Bill, 2015’ subject to the vetting of the Law Ministry.
Under the proposed amendment to the law, the government would issue metal coins and paper notes of denomination up to Tk 5.
The Cabinet Secretary said that currently the metal coins and paper notes up to Tk 2 are issued by the overnment and signed by the Finance Secretary while notes and metal coins over Tk 2 are issued by the Central Bank and signed by the Bangladesh Bank Governor.
He said, that when the Bangladesh Coinage Order 1972 (PO-83) was issued, the percentage of the government issued coins was 10.7 percent of the overall currency in circulation. But, that ratio has now come down to 0.83 percent which is 1.36 percent in India.
Musharraf said that when the current Bangladesh Bank-sanctioned notes and coins of denomination Tk 5 would be phased out gradually, the percentage of government-issued coins would finally reach 1.5 percent of the overall currency in circulation.
The Cabinet Secretary said that once the proposed amendment comes into effect, the government loan from the Bangladesh Bank would be reduced by Tk 790 crore.
The Cabinet meeting, however, did not approve the draft of the ‘Bangladesh Silk Development Board Development (amendment), Bill, 2015’ since it thinks that there is no need for such amendment.
The meeting was also apprised about the participation of the Bangladesh delegation at the 68th conference of the WHO held at Geneva.
