Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran has criticized the state government’s announcement of a revamped pension scheme, labeling it as a politically motivated tactic to deceive the public towards the end of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) term. Nagenthran highlighted that the DMK had pledged to reinstate the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees in its 2021 Assembly election manifesto but had not fulfilled this promise for almost five years.
Questioning the sudden timing of the pension scheme announcement, Nagenthran raised concerns about the government’s sincerity and whether the promised changes would be put into effect. He accused the government of trying to sow confusion among government employees and their representative bodies, particularly the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisations (JACTO-GEO), which has been consistently advocating for the restoration of OPS.
Nagenthran alleged that despite ongoing protests by various government employee groups, such as nurses, sanitation workers, and secondary grade teachers, the DMK government had not responded adequately. He claimed that the government’s recent actions were merely an attempt to portray itself as supportive of employees with elections on the horizon.
Recalling a series of unfulfilled promises, Nagenthran pointed out that the DMK had also failed to fulfill key electoral commitments, including abolishing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and reducing LPG cylinder prices by Rs 100. He emphasized that these promises had yet to be realized.
Referring to the political landscape before the Assembly elections, Nagenthran suggested that the impact of the Union Home Minister’s recent visit to Tamil Nadu would soon become evident. He criticized the DMK for what he termed “fake secularism” and predicted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would secure victory in the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections.
