Compassionate Appointment
Appointment offered to a family member of a government servant who dies in service, outside the normal competitive process, under strict eligibility rules.
This route runs outside TNPSC's exams entirely: no notification, no written test, no communal rotation. Eligibility, which family member may apply and under what conditions, is governed by service rules rather than exam notifications, and the appointment is processed by the department concerned. Aspirants sometimes confuse it with a reservation category; it is not one and holds no roster points.
Related terms
Direct Recruitment
Appointment through open competitive examination (the TNPSC route), as opposed to promotion or transfer from existing service.
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.
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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