Cadre
The sanctioned set of posts in a service or department into which you are appointed, determining seniority, transfers and promotion lines.
Your cadre is fixed at allotment, which is why counselling preferences echo for decades: transfers and promotions run within the cadre's own lines, not across departments. Two posts at the same pay level can sit in very different cadres, one district-anchored, one transferable statewide. Comparing promotion paths before ordering preferences is the practical use of this term.
Related terms
Employment Seniority
Priority given to candidates registered longer with the employment exchange, used in some Tamil Nadu recruitments outside competitive exams.
Pay Matrix
The 7th Pay Commission table of pay levels and cells that replaced pay bands and grade pay. Every post maps to a level; annual increments move you cell by cell.
Pay Level
A post's row in the pay matrix, fixing its starting basic pay and progression. Group 4 posts sit around Level 8; Group 1 posts start around Level 22.
Basic Pay
The pay-matrix figure before any allowance. DA and HRA are calculated as percentages of it, and deductions come off the resulting gross.
Grade Pay
The 6th Pay Commission add-on that indicated a post's seniority. Abolished by the 7th CPC and absorbed into pay-matrix levels; older notifications still mention it.
Dearness Allowance (DA)
An inflation-linked allowance calculated as a percentage of basic pay and revised periodically by the government.
This definition follows official TNPSC notifications and Tamil Nadu government orders. Sources: TNPSC official notifications. Figures are indicative and may change with each official notification. Data last reviewed: July 2026.
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