DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday urged the State government to withdraw the departmental action taken against 5,068 government employees and teachers who had staged protests seeking the implementation of their charter of demands.
In a statement, Mr. Stalin said the government had belittled the demands and aspirations of the employees, though they had stopped protesting after Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami promised to look into their grievances.
The DMK president said government employees had contributed ₹150 crore to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund to fight COVID-19.
“The Chief Minister should withdraw the action against them. Otherwise, the DMK, once elected to power, will fulfil the just demands of the government employees and teachers,” he said.
Recalling the employees’ protests to revert to the old pension scheme instead of enforcing the Defined Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), Mr. Stalin said the government had published an advertisement in the newspapers denigrating their demands.
“When they launched the protest, the Chief Minister requested them to give it up. But departmental action followed after they resumed work. It is highly condemnable. While the DMK government protected government employees and their families, the AIADMK government [2001-06] arrested them at midnight and dismissed lakhs of them overnight,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the government employees and teachers could not get promotions, increments or pensions because departmental action was pending. “What does the Chief Minister seek to achieve by subjecting them to difficulties? It is unpardonable that he initiated action after requesting them to withdraw their strike,” he said.
