Sun Jan 05 17:18:05 IST 2025: ## CPI(M) Demands Tamil Nadu Government Fulfill Old Pension Scheme Promise

**Villupuram, Tamil Nadu – January 5, 2025** – The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has urged the Tamil Nadu government to reinstate the old pension scheme (OPS) for all government employees and teachers, as promised during the election campaign. This demand was highlighted in a resolution passed at the party’s 24th State conference in Villupuram.

The resolution criticized the current Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), noting that employees who joined service after April 1, 2003, are ineligible for gratuity under the CPS. The CPI(M) pointed out that five other states have already re-implemented the OPS, contrasting this with the DMK government’s failure to deliver on its pre-election pledge to scrap the CPS.

Further concerns were raised regarding the government’s unfulfilled promises to regularize the services of anganwadi workers and provide them with periodic pay increases. The outsourcing of the state’s breakfast scheme to a private agency has also drawn criticism from the party.

Additionally, the CPI(M) urged the government to halt the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and to instead adopt the recommendations of a state-level committee tasked with formulating a new education policy.

Following a deadly explosion at a fireworks unit in Sattur that killed six laborers, the party also called for a joint inspection of all fireworks units by the Tamil Nadu government, the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), and the Virudhunagar District Administration to ensure safety standards are met. The CPI(M) demanded a compensation of ₹20 lakh for each victim’s family from the state government and ₹10 lakh from the factory owner.

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