Universal Pension Scheme : Challenges in Bangladesh

This study aims to identify the challenges of implementing the Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) in Bangladesh. The study has adopted qualitative research methods to reach the aim. Based on the previous experience in the reformation of public financial management and in-depth interviews of the relevant personnel, the study draws the conclusion. There is little debate on the necessity of the universal pension scheme (UPS) to ensure the social security of the senior citizen of a country. However, the debate lies in the coverage of the scheme, strength to remain unbiased, financing and others. Based on the experience in other countries and relevant personnel in Bangladesh, the study identifies several challenges in the implementation of UPS. The challenges have been grouped into two categories – 1) Governance and institutional challenges and 2) challenges from participants and recipients. Institutional challenges include public management systems, governance, accountability, transparency, public fund management and integration/introduction of digitization. Challenges from participants arise from the diversity of the population, domination of the informal sector, the attitude of the private enterprises and the perception of the potential participants. This study can be helpful to understand the challenges associated with the implementation of UPS. It can be helpful for the implementation agency of UPS, policy analysts, and policy development in Bangladesh and other developing countries