India
Tamil Nadu Allocates ₹1,000 Monthly Maintenance Fund to 12,646 VAO Offices
The Tamil Nadu government has issued a Government Order directing that ₹1,000 be provided each month as a maintenance fund for 12,646 Village Administrative Officer (VAO) offices across the state, amounting to an annual expenditure of ₹15.18 crore. The order, issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department on Friday, follows a statement by Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management K.A. Sengottaiyan in the Assembly on August 17 during the Budget session. The fund will be used to provide drinking water facilities, seating, ramps for persons with disabilities and other amenities for the public visiting VAO offices to obtain documents such as birth certificates, death certificates, patta, chitta, certificates for small and marginal farmers, legal heir certificates, income certificates, nativity certificates, community certificates and first‑generation graduate certificates. The monthly maintenance fund will be credited to the VAOs’ salaries under the head of maintenance allowance. The government has also earmarked ₹8.85 crore for this fund for the period from September 2026 to March 2027 in the current financial year.