Tension on public university campuses due to students' protests or class boycott is nothing new in Bangladesh.
But the reason behind the current deadlock at 35 public universities is something different and it is because of an indefinite strike enforced by teachers and staffers against launching of a new pension scheme.
What is there in Prattya Scheme and why has this new scheme triggered protests?
What the govt says about the new scheme:
The Finance Ministry in a notification on March 20 ,2024 announced that all the staff of the self-governed, autonomous, state-owned and statutory or similar organisations and their subordinate bodies, who will join the service on July 1 2024 or afterwards, will be included in Prattya Scheme under the Universal Pension Scheme.
“The future financial security of newly joined officers, employees on and after 1st July of this year will be guaranteed by participating in the "Prattay" scheme as they will be entitled to a monthly pension during retirement,” stated the finance ministry notification.
Read more: University teachers’ protests against Prottoy scheme illogical: Finance Minister
Most of the employees working in such establishments are covered by the gratuity and the Contributory Provident Fund (CPF). In that system, employees are entitled to a lump sum as a retirement benefit at the end of service, but no monthly pension.
In the "Prottoy" system, 10% of the basic salary of the concerned officer or employee or a maximum of Tk5000, whichever is less, will be deducted from the salary of the officer or employee and an equivalent amount will be paid by the establishment converned or institutes for participation in the scheme.
Then both the amounts will be deposited as a quantity of that officer/employee under the management of the National Pension Authority.
For example, after depositing the amount for 30 years from the institution or organisation concerned the person will get a pension of Tk 62,330 taka per month after retirement at the age of 60 years.
In this case, for 30 years, the total amount of contribution paid from the employee's own salary is Tk 9 lakh (depositing Tk2500 per month) and the total amount of contribution paid by the concerned institution/organization is Tk9 lakh.
The total amount of contributions for the organisation and related employees will be Tk18 lakh. If the beneficiary dies at the age of 75, that person will get a pension of Tk1.12 crore and more in 15 years, which is 12.47 times the employee's own deposit, said the ministry in clarifying the benefits.
The government said it introduced 'Prattay Scheme' as an alternative to the existing system to provide financial and social security to the employees in their post-retirement life.
The employee registered in this scheme will automatically receive the monthly pension amount in his or her bank account from the following month after he or she reaches pensionable age, which will be notified to him or her through mobile SMS.
In this case, he or she will not need to go to the National Pension Authority or any other office or submit any kind of proof.
Read more: University teachers’ meeting with Quader postponed; strike continues
Teachers' stance against it
After the announcement about the scheme in March teachers rejected it and demanded their exclusion from it. They also observed partial work abstention for several days and threatened on June 30 that they would go on strike from July 1 if it is not cancelled.
As the government remained rigid and the Prattay Scheme became effective from July 1, the teachers of 35 public universities including Dhaka University, Jagannath University, Jahangirnagar University and Barisal University ----went on an indefinite strike under the banner of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers' Association .
Besides, staffers started a strike simultaneously demanding its cancellation, which created a deadlock in the public universities.
What the university teachers say:
“Our movement is to protect the honor and dignity of the teachers community of the university. Movement against interference in the autonomy of Dhaka University,” said a notice issued by Dhaka University Teachers Association(DUTA) on June 30.
“This all-out strike will continue until the demands of exclusion of university teachers from the discriminatory and degrading pension scheme, introduction of individual pay scale for teachers, inclusion of university teachers in the promised ‘super grade’ are met,” it added.
Secretary General of University Teachers Association Federation and President of Dhaka University Teachers Association Dr. Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan said, the Prattay pension scheme is totally discriminatory.
“It will give facilities to some and will make others deprived. This pension scheme degraded our dignity and made us think again about our financial matters and future generations.”
Read more: Prattay pension scheme: Public university teachers’ strike enters day 3
If teachers are included in the scheme, they will be deprived of the facilities,he added.
“We are here not for our rights but for the rights of our future generation. If the teachers are included in the pension scheme, many will lose interest to come to this profession. Which is a threat to the future generation? We can't let our future generation face losses in such a way.”
The teachers were scheduled to sit with Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Thursday afternoon but the meeting was postponed later.