CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday (January 3, 2026) announced that the State government will implement the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS) for State government employees, according to a Daily Thanthi report.

Under the new scheme, State government employees will be provided with an assured pension equal to 50% of their last-drawn basic pay. To ensure this, the Tamil Nadu government will bear the entire additional funds required for the pension fund, along with the 10% contribution made by employees.

As part of TAPS, pensioners receiving the assured 50% pension will also be granted dearness allowance (DA) hikes every six months, in line with those given to serving government employees. In the event of the pensioner’s death, 60% of the pension will be paid as family pension to the nominated family members.

The scheme also provides for the payment of gratuity not exceeding Rs 25 lakh to government employees who retire or die during service, based on their length of service. In addition, a minimum pension will be paid to officers who retire without completing the qualifying service period required for pension.

Further, a special compassionate pension will be extended to employees who joined service under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and retired without pension during the interim period before the implementation of TAPS.

With the introduction of the scheme, the Tamil Nadu government will have to contribute an additional Rs 13,000 crore to the pension fund. Besides this, the State will contribute around Rs 13,000 crore annually, including a government contribution of Rs 11,000 crore, which is expected to increase every year in line with salary revisions.

Despite the current financial constraints, the State government will fully bear the expenses associated with the scheme to safeguard the interests of government employees and teachers. The Chief Minister, welcoming the implementation of TAPS, said the scheme fulfils a two-decade-old demand of government employees and teachers and offers pension and cash benefits comparable to the old pension scheme.

He also appealed to government employees and teachers to extend their full cooperation for its successful implementation, the report added.