Gagandeep Singh Bedi panel on old pension scheme defunct, says PMK president Anbumani

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss alleged that the state government has no intention to implement the old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees since the Gagandeep Singh Bedi committee is yet to commence its work.

In a statement, Anbumani said that the committee was formed 6 months ago to recommend on the old pension scheme.

"The committee has been given 9 months to submit its report. With only 3 months remaining, the committee did not even conduct meetings with the employees' unions. The government machinery would work at greater pace when the government intends to implement a new scheme that it likes. While increasing the electricity tariff, consultancy meetings were conducted within days amid opposition from the public,” he added.

But, committees formed to decide on policy decisions that the government is not keen on would function at snail's pace.

"If the government had resolved, it would have implemented the old pension scheme already. Finance is not a deterrent. In 2016, then chief minister J Jayalalithaa formed a committee under Santha Sheela Nair. But the committee did not function. Then Edapadi K Palaniswami formed the TS Sridhar committee. The committee submitted its report. The DMK government could have taken a decision on the report, but it formed another committee instead," he recalled.

Saying that the old pension scheme has been implemented in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Punjab, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, Anbumani demanded the government to implement the same in Tamil Nadu.

In another statement, Anbumani condemned the murder of SSI Shanmugavel in Tirupur and demanded that the government implement the recommendations of the Police Commission.