Bangladesh has the third highest number of poor older people in the world, after India and China. The Boishka Bhata, or old-age allowance, started in 1998. The scheme is designed to reach the oldest and poorest 20 people in each ward (rural district).

The old-age allowance is means-tested and recipients are selected by the community. Eligibility starts at age 57, and half of the recipients have to be women. Additional criteria for selection is a lack of land or annual income below 3000 taka (US$42), chronic poor health and inability to work.

The pension of 165 taka (US$2.30) a month is paid in quarterly instalments. Recipients collect their pension from local branches of the government-run Sonali bank. Each recipient has a passbook and the Social Welfare Office keeps a register with sample signatures of all recipients.

Cost

The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Social Welfare and financed out of the state budget. The old-age allowance makes up 0.03% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Coverage

In 2006, 1.32 million people received the old-age allowance.

Impact

Research shows that the old-age allowance is spent on basic needs such as food, healthcare and income-generating activities. In a country where food insecurity is a worry to older people, the allowance is a welcome source of income during times of hardship.

A survey among 480 recipients of the old-age allowance in rural Pubail district by HelpAge International partner, the Resource Integration Centre (RIC) shows:

• 60% is spent on food
• 30% is spent on healthcare
• 10% is invested in income-generating activities such as tea-stalls, handicraft businesses, goat-rearing and growing vegetables.

The Older Citizens Monitoring project

RIC works with older people’s associations as part of the Older Citizen’s Monitoring project to monitor access to the old-age allowance, widow’s allowance and access to health services, in two pilot areas – a peri-urban area of Dhaka and a remote rural area, in the south-west of the country.

They found that significantly fewer people were receiving entitlements than were eligible – less than 1 in 10 in one area. The older people’s associations held regular meetings with local government to help people claim pension entitilements. As a result pension uptake increased five-fold, and banks improved their procedures for serving older people.

Nekjun’s story

68-year-old widow Nekjun Bibi, from a village near Pubail, worked as maid until she lost her job because of old-age and ill health. Although Nekjun has two children she lives alone and was forced to start begging to survive.

Through the Older Citizens Monitoring project, Nekjun was selected to receive the old-age allowance. With her first pension payment she bought two goats, clothes, and sweets for her grandchildren.

“The money made me happy as I did not earn it from begging but it was from the government and therefore my right,” says Nekjun.

She looks forward to collecting her pension every quarter and has invested more of her pension in income-generating activities to provide a secure future for herself and her family.