Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme: Know Eligibility And Other Rules

The Tamil Nadu government has launched an assured pension scheme for its state government employees. The scheme, named Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS), became effective from January 1, 2026, for all Tamil Nadu state government employees. As employee unions have been demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme for a long time, the government, considering these demands, constituted a committee. Based on the committee's report and the government's consultations with the finance minister, chief secretary, finance secretary, etc., TAPS was accepted to be launched as an equivalent to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

Who Is Eligible To Join The Scheme?

State government employees who have joined service on or after January 1, 2026, will mandatorily be enrolled under TAPS. Those who retired after this date will also be given the option to choose this scheme. In addition to them, employees who are currently enrolled under the contributory pension scheme will also be eligible to opt for the assured pension scheme at the time of their retirement.

TAPS Features And Other Rules

• The pension will be determined based on the last drawn salary. The salary for this purpose will include basic pay and dearness allowance (DA). The pension amount will be 50 per cent of the last drawn monthly salary.

• Employees will contribute 10 per cent of their monthly salary, and the employer (government) will bear the remaining requirement to fund the pension.

• According to the government order, the pensioners' dearness relief (DR) will be treated at par with the DA. Note that DA is paid to employees, whereas DR is paid to the pensioners.

• The post-retirement benefits include 60 per cent family pension to nominated family members in case of the pensioner’s demise.

• Up to Rs 25 lakh gratuity upon superannuation or death during service.

• A minimum pension for those employees who don’t complete the qualifying service.

• The scheme also prescribes a special compassionate pension for those who retired under the contributory scheme before TAPS was launched.

According to the statement, initially, the scheme requires a contribution of Rs 13,000 crore and an annual contribution of Rs 11,000 crore from the government, which will increase annually.

For the government, launching TAPS is its response to fulfilling the 20-year demands of government employees and teachers, but for the opposition, it is only a name change of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) brought by the central government on April 1, 2025.

However, those who have been incessantly demanding restoration of OPS are happy with the developments and launch of this assured pension scheme. Per media reports, the representatives of the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisation (JACTO-GEO) welcome the new pension scheme.

The detailed guidelines for implementation will be issued soon.