Chennai, Jan 11 (AHN) The debate over the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in Tamil Nadu sharpened on Sunday after P. Shanmugam, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), launched a strong attack on Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), accusing him of deliberately misleading government employees for political gain.

In a post on X, Shanmugam was responding to Palaniswami's allegation that the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had deceived government employees by claiming to have restored the Old Pension Scheme.

Rejecting the charge, the CPI(M) leader said such accusations ignored basic facts and amounted to an attempt to distort the history of pension reforms in the State.

Shanmugam pointed out that the Old Pension Scheme was first abolished with effect from April 1, 2003, during the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government led by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

"When the scheme was removed by the AIADMK itself, on what basis is Palaniswami accusing the DMK of betrayal?" he asked.

The CPI(M) leader further questioned why Palaniswami did not reintroduce the Old Pension Scheme during his own tenure as Chief Minister. He also noted that even now, the AIADMK has failed to make a clear and categorical promise in its public announcements that the scheme would be restored if the party returned to power.

According to Shanmugam, this reluctance "exposed the opposition's lack of commitment to government employees".

Referring to the Assured Pension Scheme announced by the DMK government, Shanmugam said the opposition had not offered any substantive criticism of the scheme.

He argued that Palaniswami's objections were largely confined to the provision requiring a 10 per cent contribution from employees, while ignoring the broader social security benefits the scheme aimed to provide.

Shanmugam also questioned the moral authority of the AIADMK leader to speak on pension issues, pointing out that the party is allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had abolished the Old Pension Scheme at the national level.

"A party aligned with those who removed OPS across the country has no credibility to lecture employees on pension rights," he said.

Concluding his remarks, Shanmugam accused Palaniswami of relying on allegations rather than action, and urged government employees to critically assess who was responsible for dismantling and who was attempting to rebuild pension security in Tamil Nadu.