Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS) PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss has accused the DMK government of deliberately misleading government employees and teachers over the newly announced Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme, alleging that the scheme exists only on paper and has not been implemented on the ground.

In a statement, Anbumani said the State government had announced that the Assured Pension Scheme came into effect from January 1, 2026. However, more than 5,000 government employees who retired at the end of January have not received any official orders granting them pension benefits under the new scheme, despite many of them being eligible.

“This clearly proves our long-standing charge that the DMK government has been systematically deceiving government employees and teachers,” he said.

He recalled that since 2003, Tamil Nadu has followed the New Pension Scheme, and government employees and teachers have been agitating for nearly 26 years, demanding its withdrawal and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme.

The DMK, he noted, had come to power promising to reintroduce the Old Pension Scheme, but failed to fulfil that assurance even after five years in office.

According to Anbumani, frustrated by the delay, government employees announced an indefinite strike from January 6. In an attempt to prevent the protest, the DMK government hurriedly announced the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme on January 3.

Anbumani said he had warned at the time that the scheme was “deceptive” and would not benefit employees. Though the government issued a Government Order on January 10, it created a false impression that the scheme had already come into force from January 1, 2026.

In reality, the order clearly stated that the scheme would be implemented only after framing detailed rules — a fact the government allegedly concealed.

On the last working day of January 2026, over 5,000 government employees will retire. If the scheme had truly been implemented, eligible retirees should have received pension orders immediately, he said.

“No such orders were issued. This has exposed the government’s deception,” he alleged.

Anbumani further criticised the government for staging “political drama” by celebrating the announcement with select union leaders, while failing to operationalise the scheme.

He pointed out that, unlike the Old Pension Scheme, which is fully funded by the government, the new assured scheme is financed by a 10 per cent salary deduction from employees — similar to the New Pension Scheme — but offers far fewer benefits.

“The DMK government has failed even to implement this flawed scheme. That alone is enough to measure the extent of its betrayal of government employees and teachers,” Anbumani said.

–IANS

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