Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 2023

What the rules govern

The Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 2023 provide a framework for appointing eligible family members of certain government servants on compassionate grounds. Their subject is government employment, not Housing Board property, land ownership, planning approval or property registration.

The definition of government servant includes probationers, approved probationers and full members of a service. It excludes persons on extension or re-employment, persons engaged on casual, ad hoc or contract terms, consolidated pay or daily wages, and persons outside the regular time scale or on a special time scale of pay.

Who may qualify

The Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 2023 cover families of:

• Government servants, including suspended government servants, who die while in service.
• Government servants medically invalidated with at least five years of service remaining.
• Missing government servants declared dead by a competent court from a date before superannuation.

Eligible relatives are considered in the stated priority, beginning with the legally wedded spouse, followed by a son or daughter, including an adopted child. Depending on marital status, health, absence of children or presence of minor children, parents, brothers or sisters may qualify. The rules also allow specified nominations where the higher priority relative cannot apply because of health.

Main eligibility conditions

An applicant under the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 2023 must satisfy these conditions:

• The family must be in indigent circumstances, meaning annual income from all sources is not more than rupees three lakh. Relevant family pension or pension from medical invalidation is excluded.
• No family member may generally be in regular government or private employment. An employed member living separately without financially assisting the family does not disqualify it. Military service also does not disqualify the family.
• Casual, ad hoc, contract, daily wage or consolidated pay work by a family member is not a bar.
• The spouse or eligible parent must not have completed fifty years of age when applying. A son, daughter, brother or sister must not have completed forty years.
• There is no minimum application age, but appointment cannot be given before the applicant turns eighteen.
• The applicant must hold the prescribed educational qualification and have adequate knowledge of Tamil on the application date.

Application process

An application must be submitted within three years of the relevant death, medical invalidation retirement or receipt of the court declaration. Form I may be filed online through the designated departmental portal or website, or submitted in writing to the relevant Head of Office. Required records include the death certificate or medical invalidation retirement order, legal heirship certificate where applicable, Integrated Certificate in Form II and proof of the applicant's birth.