Govt employees, teachers give DMK reality check

CHENNAI: The ruling DMK has itself to blame for antagonising the government employees ahead of a crucial election year. That the government sought four more weeks to weigh the financial implications of fulfilling their ‘old’ demand, mainly the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) promised in the DMK’s 2021 selection manifesto, was the last straw.

Though the state government could make an excuse by citing its dire financial straits, more so when the union government is arm-twisting it to accept controversial political policies to receive rightful share of funds, the government might have shot itself in the foot by ‘delaying’ the fulfilment of at least a few, if not all demands, like the revival of the surrender of Earn Leave for the government employees and teachers, a scheme introduced by deceased former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

JACTO-GEO (Joint Action Council for Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisation and Government Employees Organisation), which has been holding negotiations with the state government, argued that it was unreasonable on the part of the government to not honour the promises it made long ago. “In 2021, Chief Minister Stalin took part in our conference and declared that he would revive the OPS after forming the government. On February 13, 2024, the same set of ministers promised to fulfil the demands. Now, they tell us again that the chief secretary and finance secretary sought four weeks to work out the cost of fulfilling their demand. Our members ask us, "What were they doing for a year?” wondered M Srinivasan, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association and one of the coordinators of JACTO-GEO.

Dismissing the apprehensions that the OPS revival would severely strain the state finances, Srinivasan argued that states like Chattisgarh, Goa and Punjab have revived the OPS despite the union government refusing to release the funds the states so far deposited in the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. PFRDA was established by the GoI in 2003 to manage the pension funds of employees invested in the share market by the union government. The states have returned to OPS because it was more viable than the NPS.

“Don’t forget that we too had a pension fund with participation earlier. It was the government that proposed the OPS. Now, they do not want to implement it. Tamil Nadu is the only state that refused to deposit the pension funds with the PFRDA. The state government deposited the amount in LIC. As of date, the TN government has Rs 83,000 crore deposits, which earn a monthly interest of Rs 2,372 crore per month. It takes only a day for the state to revive the OPS by withdrawing the deposits. The state government could utilise the withdrawn funds for public welfare projects and schemes too because the pension would be required to be disbursed only post-retirement,” Srinivasan argued.

Pointing out that only an average 12,000 to 20,000 employees retire per month, the JACTO-GEO coordinator argued that even the interest amount accrued for the NPS deposits would be enough to fund the OPS.

“The ministers did not tell us that they are not fulfilling our demands. They said they are considering the implementation. That is why we scaled down our protest from bandh to protest in district headquarters. The government must not wait for four weeks. It must make an announcement soon. Our next meeting will take place next week. We will decide our action then. The government has pushed us to the current situation,” Srinivasan remarked and added that they were also insisting on filling the 4.82 lakh vacancies in various departments and bringing the consolidated and part-time employees into a time-scale pay bracket.

“The 15-day EL surrender in May every year used to be a major reserve for us to pay the tuition fees of our children in the next academic year. The previous AIADMK regime suspended it during COVID-19 for a year. The incumbent government extended the suspension indefinitely until further orders,” Srinivasan argued, complaining that the ministers assured that they would get back to ‘us’ by 8 pm on Monday, but they invited three of our office bearers in the evening and only informed that the Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary sought four weeks to compute the cost.

A Mayavan, another coordinator of JACTO-GEO says; “It is presumptuous to say that the EL surrender revival will burn a hole in the pocket of the government. It is only 15 days per year per employee/teacher. Not all people would have 15 days to surrender. There are many newcomers. For most of them, the 15-day EL would not have accumulated for surrender. If you could pay Rs 1,000 per woman and spend so big for votes, why can't they revive something they promised for the employees delivering their projects to the people?

“PTR, who first resisted the OPS, and the same minister Thangam Thennarasu were a part of the DMK manifesto committee. Did they not consider all the factors before making the poll promise? They are not openly telling us the reasons for delaying the fulfilment of the demands. The ministers are not even rejecting the demands. They are repeatedly seeking more time.”

Members of JACTO-GEO also criticised privately that the incumbent state government does not have a problem embracing the union government in the Unified Pension Scheme alone because it suited its position.