Chennai, Jan 3 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is likely to make a major announcement on the future of the State’s pension system on Saturday, raising expectations among government employees and teachers who have been agitating for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

The announcement comes at a critical moment, with employee federations having already declared an indefinite strike from January 6 if their demands are not met.

Government employees’ and teachers’ unions, led by federations such as JACTO-GEO and BOTA-GEO, have been protesting against the continuation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and pressing for the reintroduction of OPS, along with other service-related demands.

Earlier talks held on December 22 between the federations and a ministerial panel comprising E.V. Velu, Thangam Thennarasu, and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi ended without a consensus.

Following the failure of those negotiations, the unions reiterated that the proposed indefinite strike would go ahead as planned.

Meanwhile, a committee headed by senior IAS officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi, which was tasked with studying pension-related issues, submitted its final report to the Tamil Nadu government.

In the wake of this development, the ministerial panel invited the protesting unions for another round of talks.

Fresh discussions were held on Friday morning at the Secretariat in Minister E.V. Velu’s office, with Thangam Thennarasu also taking part. The ministers held separate meetings with representatives of all federations, including JACTO-GEO and BOTA-GEO.

After the talks, leaders of the federations told reporters that the ministers had indicated the Chief Minister would make a formal announcement on the pension issue today.

According to them, the nature of the pension scheme would be clearly outlined by the Chief Minister, after which details of benefits and subsequent decisions would be discussed and announced.

Union leaders said they were hopeful that the announcement would bring relief not only to serving employees but also to around 48,000 pensioners who retired under the CPS.

At present, nearly 6.5 lakh government employees in Tamil Nadu are covered by the contributory scheme. Following the Chief Minister’s announcement, the federations are expected to convene and decide on the future course of their agitation, including whether to proceed with or withdraw the proposed strike.

—IANS

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