Govt scraps Prottoy pension scheme amid protests

The government yesterday scrapped the much-talked-about pension scheme, called Prottoy, for public universities and self-governed, autonomous and state entities amidst opposition from university teachers and spiralling unrest following the deaths of more than 204 people centring the job quota protests.

The scheme, which also included the employees of affiliated enterprises of state agencies, was introduced earlier this year under the Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) and said new employees of the organisations will come under the scheme beginning in July 2025.

The initiative faced massive opposition from university teachers and they went on an indefinite strike over pension benefits from the first day of July this year.

The government by the end of last month sat with teachers as protests by students expanded among people of different spheres of life following deaths, injuries and crackdowns by law enforcers.

In a statement yesterday, the finance ministry said the decision regarding the participation of employees of universities and self-governed, autonomous and state-owned enterprises has been cancelled.

The government first introduced the UPS on August 17 last year, bringing citizens aged between 18 and 50 years under coverage with the aim of ensuring a safety net for them and providing a monthly stipend to support their daily expenses.

Four schemes -- Progoti, Surokkha, Somota and Probash -- were initially launched.