A NATIONAL daily reported on Sunday that retirement benefits of over seventy thousand non-government secondary school teachers and employees which stands at around Tk. 2,400 crore are hanging in balance for at least five years as the Finance Ministry is not making the fund available to settle the overdue. The Education Minister is repeatedly trying to convince the Finance Ministry to allocate the money but the finance ministry has reportedly responded saying it was not ‘affordable’ in the prevailing financial situation.
The problem appears to be that teachers have contributed to their retirement fund but the government have not provided the matching fund creating the mismatch. It is a shame that aged teachers who worked through their life are moving from door to door of the government offices. Many retired teachers have already died while waiting and others are on endless wait. Many of them have abandoned hope that they can get the money in lifetime but they are poor and powerless to bring pressure on the government to pay their due without anymore delay. We must say teachers must get their due immediately when the government is spending enormous money to appease the bureaucrats.
Teachers have saved the money to use it when they will go on retirement and have no regular source of earning. But the way they are treated now shows the utter disrespect of the government to them violating the rule of law and the basic rights of the teachers to be paid by the state as the service rules say. But since they are poor and not organized, the government does not feel obliged, least to be accountable to them. It appears that the state is discriminating them while putting all money to win loyalty of the bureaucrats to continue the ruling party in power.
The new pay scale now going to be implemented from January appears to be paying lavishly to bureaucrats. The government as it has come to power through a flawed election now solely depends of the bureaucrats and law enforcing agencies. They know where the government is at risk and taking the advantage of the situation are dominating the government realizing hefty financial benefits. But the non-cadre government officials and employees like school teachers are meted with utter neglects.
New estimates suggest that proposal for raising the government pension rate is between 62 per cent and 67 per cent for bureaucrats at different levels. For paying the enhanced benefits to bureaucrats the government will spend Tk 451.53 billion in the next FY; which will be Tk 160 billion more over this year’s budget. While the bureaucrats are taking away the bigger part of the budget; school teachers are at their mercy moving around to get their overdue pension. It is totally unacceptable and unjustified, their pension benefits must be cleared immediately.
The problem appears to be that teachers have contributed to their retirement fund but the government have not provided the matching fund creating the mismatch. It is a shame that aged teachers who worked through their life are moving from door to door of the government offices. Many retired teachers have already died while waiting and others are on endless wait. Many of them have abandoned hope that they can get the money in lifetime but they are poor and powerless to bring pressure on the government to pay their due without anymore delay. We must say teachers must get their due immediately when the government is spending enormous money to appease the bureaucrats.
Teachers have saved the money to use it when they will go on retirement and have no regular source of earning. But the way they are treated now shows the utter disrespect of the government to them violating the rule of law and the basic rights of the teachers to be paid by the state as the service rules say. But since they are poor and not organized, the government does not feel obliged, least to be accountable to them. It appears that the state is discriminating them while putting all money to win loyalty of the bureaucrats to continue the ruling party in power.
The new pay scale now going to be implemented from January appears to be paying lavishly to bureaucrats. The government as it has come to power through a flawed election now solely depends of the bureaucrats and law enforcing agencies. They know where the government is at risk and taking the advantage of the situation are dominating the government realizing hefty financial benefits. But the non-cadre government officials and employees like school teachers are meted with utter neglects.
New estimates suggest that proposal for raising the government pension rate is between 62 per cent and 67 per cent for bureaucrats at different levels. For paying the enhanced benefits to bureaucrats the government will spend Tk 451.53 billion in the next FY; which will be Tk 160 billion more over this year’s budget. While the bureaucrats are taking away the bigger part of the budget; school teachers are at their mercy moving around to get their overdue pension. It is totally unacceptable and unjustified, their pension benefits must be cleared immediately.
