DMK, AIADMK fight over revival of EL surrender option to TN govt staff

CHENNAI: Refuting the charges made by AIADMK legislator and former minister Sellur K Raju, who claimed that the DMK government introduced the Earned Leave (EL) surrender scheme for government employees for electoral gain, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu stated that the government had revived and reinstated the scheme that the previous AIADMK regime had abandoned.

Meanwhile, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi asserted that the Dravidian model government designs its schemes for future generations rather than focusing on the next election.

During the debate on the State's budget for 2025-26 on Tuesday, Raju criticised the DMK government for introducing the EL surrender scheme and the proposal to distribute 20 lakh tabs and laptops to college students, claiming these measures were aimed at gaining political advantage in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

He also questioned why the government had not shown concern for government employees earlier and what it had been doing over the past four years. He raised doubts about the timing of the scheme, which is set to come into effect on April 1, 2026, and asked what had happened to the Old Pension Scheme and other promises made to government employees ahead of the 2021 elections.

This prompted a heated debate, with Ministers EV Velu, Thangam Thennarasu, and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi engaging in a vigorous exchange or words. Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, also joined the debate to intensify his attack on the ruling party over the budget and wondered why this government did not take such measures earlier?

In response, Thennarasu explained that, per Chief Minister MK Stalin's instruction, a team of ministers held a series of talks with government employees to address their grievances. "The revival of the EL surrender scheme is a direct outcome of these discussions. Our aim is to restore the system that was abandoned by the AIADMK regime," he said and questioned whether the AIADMK legislator is against reviving such a system for the government employees.

Raju said that they question the timing of it and they are not against such a scheme, while Palaniswami asserted that the AIADMK government had not abandoned the system. However, Minister Velu retorted that government employees were well aware of who had discontinued the EL surrender scheme.