CHENNAI: The state government employees and teachers who are members of JACTTO-GEO staged a hunger strike at all district headquarters across Tamil Nadu on Sunday, pressing for their 10-point charter of demands, which included reverting to the old pension scheme (OPS) instead of the contributory pension scheme (CPS). In Chennai, government employees and teachers were on hunger strike in Ezhilagam.
Talking to reporters, office-bearers of the JACTTO-GEO (Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisation) said that the state government should make announcements about fulfilling the demands of the government employees by April 30 when the ongoing session of the state Assembly comes to an end. “Otherwise, the government employees will decide their future course of action,” they said.
Asked whether the JACTTO-GEO office-bearers still have the confidence that the government would fulfil their demands as four years have passed since the present government assumed office, the office-bearers said, “In the past, 1.76 lakh government employees were dismissed in one go. But now the situation is not that worse. This government is saying that our demands will be considered. We still have hope. But we will not give up our protests until our demands are accepted.”
The office-bearers held discussions with Chief Minister MK Stalin on March 13 and expressed confidence that their demands would be met soon. However, they expressed disappointment when they could not find any announcement regarding their primary demand to revert to the old pension scheme in the budget session.
Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, however, made certain announcements, including restoration of leave encashment. Meanwhile, the long-time struggle of the JACTTO-GEO received support from the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam led by actor Vijay.
Expressing his full support to the demands of the government employees and teachers, Vijay, in a statement here, said the DMK had failed to fulfil its electoral promise of reverting to the old pension scheme. “Due to the deceitful action of the DMK government, the employees and teachers were forced to stage protests on their holiday (Sunday). This shows that the DMK government does not regard their protest as a matter of concern,” he added.
Vijay also said Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have already reverted to the old pension scheme, and recently Karnataka also announced that it would bring back the old pension scheme soon. “But why is the DMK government, which claims to be a pioneer on many initiatives, turning Nelson’s eye to the vital demand of its employees in reverting to the old pension scheme?” he asked.