The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned ₹198 crore as honorarium for officials and staff who worked on the 2026 Assembly election across all 234 constituencies, through a Government Order issued by the Public (Elections) Department, The Hindu reported.
Who gets what
- One month's basic pay, up to ₹45,000, whichever is less: district election officers, returning officers and assistant returning officers, district revenue officers (elections), personal assistants (elections) to collectors, special tahsildars, corporation commissioners, district revenue officers, deputy tahsildars (elections), zonal officers and liaison officers for observers.
- One month's basic pay, up to ₹30,000: staff in the election wings of the offices of district election officers, district revenue officers, tahsildars and corporation and municipal commissioners, and members of flying squads, video surveillance and viewing teams, accounting teams, model code of conduct teams, static surveillance teams, assistant expenditure observers and zonal assistants.
- Other categories get honorarium under separate slabs.
The amount will be based on the basic pay officials drew on May 1, 2026, Rockfort Times reported; it put the range at ₹7,500 to ₹45,000, with IT staff getting ₹20,000. The money will be paid through the district election officers.
How this differs from polling-day pay
This state honorarium is separate from the remuneration the Election Commission of India pays polling personnel. Before the election, the Commission set aside about ₹95 crore for some 3.45 lakh polling staff at 75,032 polling stations, raising rates for the first time since 2014: presiding officers now get ₹500 a day and polling officers ₹400, DT Next reported in February.