Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister Professor A Z M Zahid Hossain has said the government led by Desh Netri Begum Khaleda Zia had implemented a retirement allowance, which subsequent governments had kept suspended. He said Prime Minister and BNP chairman Tarique Rahman recently allocated 40 billion taka for the retirement allowance, and described the current government as teacher-friendly and people-friendly. He added that within the next four years, an allowance scheme would be introduced for religious leaders of all houses of worship.
The minister made the remarks as chief guest at a views-exchange meeting organised by wards 1-9 of Birampur municipal Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The event was held at 5pm on Friday at the Birampur Pilot High School grounds, chaired by Birampur municipal BNP ward 3 president Mahibul Elahi Chowdhury.
Also present on stage were the minister’s assistant private secretary, Javed Hossain; his personal officer, Golam Mostafa Ranju; Dinajpur-6 constituency BNP election-steering committee president Ferdous Rahman; municipal BNP president Humayun Kabir; general secretary Rezaul Karim Reju; and the presidents and secretaries of affiliated organisations’ municipal and ward BNP units.