CHENNAI: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday accused the DMK government of betraying government employees by failing to restore the Old Pension Scheme, instead offering a watered-down version, which was promised as a key assurance during the 2021 Assembly elections.

In a statement, Palaniswami said the DMK had come to power, assuring the reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme, but had failed to act on that promise over the past four years. He alleged that the recently announced Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme was introduced towards the end of the DMK’s term only to pacify agitating employees and gain political mileage ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

The AIADMK leader claimed that the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme was merely a renamed version of the Union government’s Unified Pension Scheme and accused Chief Minister MK Stalin of misleading employees by changing the name while retaining its contributory nature. He said the DMK, which frequently criticises the Centre, had adopted the same pension framework under a different name.

Palaniswami alleged that the new scheme offered no substantial benefit or reform for government employees and claimed that some employee union leaders had aided the government by projecting it as a major concession despite being aware of its limitations.

Stating that government employees would eventually realise they had been deceived, he said they would give a fitting reply by defeating the DMK in the upcoming Assembly elections.