CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday announced a 3% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for State government employees, teachers, pensioners and family pensioners, with retrospective effect from July 1, 2026.

Making the announcement ahead of deepavali, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay said the DA would be increased from the existing 60% to 63%, following the Union government's decision to revise the allowance for its employees.

According to a press release, the Chief Minister considered the demand from government employees and teachers for extending the benefit to State government staff and ordered the revision with effect from July 1. The revision is expected to benefit around 16 lakh government employees, teachers, pensioners and family pensioners across the State.

The government said employees and teachers played a significant role in designing and implementing various welfare programmes and that the government remained committed to their welfare.

The announcement comes after the State government recently relaxed the upper age limit for recruitment to government jobs, providing relief to young job aspirants. After assuming office, the TVK government had announced a 2% DA hike for government employees and teachers with retrospective effect from January 1, 2026. With that revision, the DA was increased from 58% to 60%. The latest announcement will take the DA to 63%.

The union government on Wednesday hiked the DA and dearness relief for central government employees and pensioners by 3%, raising the rate from 60% to 63% effective July 1, 2026. About 48 lakh central government employees and 68 lakh pensioners will benefit from the hike. The increase follows recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.