, June 28 -- Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon on Sunday said the government is committed to ensuring the prompt payment of retirement and welfare benefits to retired teachers and employees of private educational institutions, aiming to clear the existing backlog within six months once the required funds are allocated.

Responding to a question from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami MP Md Abdul Wares (Gaibandha-5) in Parliament, the minister said around 67,000 applications for retirement benefits are currently pending with the Non-Government Teacher Employee Retirement Benefits Board.

He said each retired teacher or employee receives an average retirement benefit of about Tk 13 lakh.

According to Milon, settling all pending applica...