MK Stalin Announces Assured Pension For State Employees Ahead Of 2026 Polls

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a new pension scheme that would assure 50 per cent of the last drawn salary as monthly pension for government employees. The announcement has brought relief to govenment employees like Rajesh, a teacher who is soon to retire. "This is a great Pongal gift.  We spent everything for our son's education and we hardly were able to save anything," he told NDTV.

The ruling DMK had promised restoration of the old pension scheme. Though this scheme is not the old scheme, the government claims it has the same benefits. Retiring employees would get a maximum gratuity of Rs 25 lakh. The pensioners would also receive Dearness Allowance twice a year in sync with serving goverment employees. In the event of the pensioner's death the family would continue to receive 60 per cent of the pension. Chitra, a government employee, said, "This is the best we could expect in this scenario. In a sense, this will restore the pride of being a government servant". 

Employees, who joined the contributory pension scheme and retired without any pension, will be eligible for a compassionate pension. Chandrasekhar, a late entrant government teacher who has retired, said, "I depend on my son for a monthly allowance of Rs 5,000. This will now give me some dignity".

JACTO-GEO, the federation of government employees and teachers' associations that had earlier called for an indefinite  strike from January 6, has withdrawn the call, largely welcoming the scheme. This would cost the government Rs 13,000 crore to create the pension fund and Rs 11,000 crore annually. 

Stalin said on X, "We have once again proven that the DMK government always remains true to the people who trusted and voted for us."

Stalin's announcement comes ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. With this, the ruling DMK hopes it would get the total support of the government employees and their families. Though the ruling DMK has won three successive elections, actor Vijay's electoral debut has triggered worry. The state government had constituted a committee under senior bureaucrat Gagandeep Singh Bedi to study various pension schemes and give its  recommendations.