Employee dies, Renata to pay his family a salary for the next 29 years
Photo taken from a video stream. Agamir Somoy.
Following an emplyee's death in a road accident, renowned drug comany Renata has decided to keep the family paying salaries and bonuses for the next 29 years.
Asaduzzaman had worked at a pharmaceutical company. He lived with his wife and two children at Kulaura in Moulvibazar. He was returning to Kulaura town from Bhatera Bazar with his colleague Sanjoy on a motor-bike. When the bike lost control near the Barmachal petrol pump area, both were seriously injured. Asaduzzaman did not survive after being rushed to the hospital.
Losing the only earning member of the family, the family was left devastated. Alongside grief, relatives sank into worry thinking about their gloomy days ahead. The incident occurred in August this year. That same August, a video spread on social media.
In the video, it is being shown that a person has died. The body is lying on a cot. His funeral prayer is being held before he is taken for burial. At that funeral, a man stepped forward. The person who stepped forward was a senior official of the organization the deceased worked for. He began to speak. Everyone present had their eyes fixed on him. He said, "Asaduzzaman's employment tenure has not yet ended. There are still 29 years of service remaining. He has died, but his family will receive a regular salary and bonus for the next 29 years."
Hearing such words, everyone present at the funeral was astonished. The video was shared on a Facebook page on a few days ago for the second time. But on Sunday the matter came into discussion anew on Facebook. Employee Asaduzzaman died in a motorcycle accident after two years of service. The company will pay a regular salary for his full employment tenure—that is, for the next 29 years. A post with such text and pictures spread on social media. Social media was flooded with reactions from thousands of people and comments praising the company.
Will the company really pay a family a salary and bonus for 29 years?
Searching social media, it was found that two doctors welcomed such an initiative by Renata Pharmaceuticals on their own Facebook handles. Professor Saklayen Russell of Vascular Surgery at Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital posted the item on his Facebook yesterday. After that, it continued to spread.
On inquiry, it was found that before physician Saklayen Russell, Dr. M.A.B. Siddique Majumder (Jaber), a specialist in medicine, cardiology, rheumatism, and diabetes, had made such a post on August 22.
On inquiry, it was found that the August video circulating on social media is true. The person who gave the statement was Sakhawat Hossain, General Manager of Renata Pharmaceuticals. Md. Asaduzzaman, 35, died in Kulaura on August 19. Although he lived with his family in Kulaura, his village home is in Chapainawabganj. The matter was confirmed to Agamir Somoy by Monwarul Islam, Director (Marketing) of Renata Pharmaceuticals.
Speaking to Agamir Somoy at noon on Monday, Monwarul Islam said, "Asaduzzaman was our sales representative. He died while on duty. The video of the funeral prayer that you have seen on social media is true. Our General Manager (Sales) Sakhawat Hossain was speaking there."This official of the country's established pharmaceutical company said, "We do not have any official policy that if an employee dies, we will pay his family according to the remaining employment tenure. But we do this. We have done this before in the case of several of our employees. The late Asaduzzaman was also on duty. His family will receive salary and bonus for the next 29 years. If there is an increment, they will receive that too."
