Members of the Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association on Tuesday organised a protest here to press for their charter of 45 demands.
Addressing the gathering, association leaders expressed disappointment with the administration’s policy trajectory since assuming office following the April 2026 Assembly elections.
Despite pre-election promises hinting at favourable consideration of the universally accepted Old Pension Scheme over the previous administration’s Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS), the government cited severe financial constraints and a staggering debt burden, said TNGEA State secretary K. Neethiraja.
He condemned the recent statements from the Finance Department linking TAPS implementation to central borrowing permissions, as well as subsequent adjustments reducing pension allocations by ₹14,000 crore and capping monthly interim relief.
The union contended that the decades-long grievances of State employees had been continuously sidelined.
Critical issues highlighted included the lack of regular time-scale pay and statutory pensions for long-serving workers under consolidated pay, outsourcing of noon meal workers, MRB nurses, panchayat secretaries and rural librarians and unfulfilled promises to regularise the 41-month dismissal period of highway road workers as per the Madras High Court directives.
Further, the association demanded the settlement of 21 months arrears from the Seventh Pay Commission, comprehensive expansion of school breakfast programmes handled by noon meal staff, and removal of loopholes in State medical insurance schemes to ensure fully cashless treatments.
The protesters also registered their strong opposition to policy measures such as reduction of compassionate appointment quotas from 25% to 5%, contract-based appointment of nurses under Government Order No. 258, and failure to fill thousands of vacant government positions despite rising unemployment among educated youth.
Criticising the “unapproachable administrative attitude” of high-ranking officials and the Chief Minister, the association resolved to mobilise members from 11 different State fronts. To register their protest, the State employees wouldl observe a district-level dharna on October 28 and followed by an extensive office-to-office campaign from November 16-27.
The agitation would peak on December 4, when over one lakh government employees would converge on Chennai George Fort to formally present their comprehensive 45-point charter of demands directly to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.
Published - October 13, 2026 07:10 pm IST