The Revanth Reddy government in Telangana is bringing in a unique law that requires all salaried persons to support their parents financially.
The Telangana Employees Accountability and Monitoring of Parental Support Bill, 2026, holds employees responsible for the care and maintenance of parents (both biological and step-parents) dependent on them. If not, the government can ask their employer to directly deposit a portion of their earnings – 15% of their salary or Rs 10,000, whichever is lower – to their parents every month.
The Bill was passed in the Telangana Assembly on Sunday, March 29.
As the Bill was introduced, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy narrated the story of Shravana Kumar from Ramayana, who was known for his devotion to his parents and was killed while serving them. “If people take Shravana Kumar as inspiration to serve their parents, we would not need any laws,” he said.
He said that human ties are weakening in society. “People should serve their parents out of devotion. If not, we must induce fear. That is why we have brought in this Bill,” he said.
Here’s a brief explainer on the provisions in the new law for elderly parents.
Who are the employees included in the law
The law covers employees of all government and private organisations functioning within Telangana, everyone drawing a salary from the state government, all elected and nominated members of local bodies, as well as MLAs and MLCs.
How can neglected parents seek financial support
One or both parents can submit a written application to the District Collector, who is the designated authority under the law, seeking a part of their child’s monthly salary. In doing so, they must establish that they don’t have an adequate income source to live with dignity and that they need their child’s financial support.
The application must specify the parents’ monthly income from all sources, and the nature of financial or other support needed from their children.
The Collector must give an opportunity to both the parents and the child to be heard, before deciding on the claim. This must be done within 60 days.
If the Collector approves the claim, they will decide on a monthly amount that doesn’t exceed 15% of the employee’s salary or Rs 10,000, whichever is lower. The Collector will direct the employer to deduct the amount from the employee’s salary, and directly deposit it into the parents’ bank account on a monthly basis.
What happens if claim is rejected
If the Collector doesn’t decide on the claim within 60 days, the parents can file an appeal over the delay before the Senior Citizens Commission. This is a quasi judicial body that will be set up under the law.
The Collector could also reject the parents’ application within those 60 days. Parents can appeal a rejected claim with the Senior Citizens Commission within 45 days from the rejection, or even later if they can show sufficient cause for the delay.
The Commission also has 60 days to decide on the appeal.
The Commission will have one chief commissioner and one or two commissioners. A commissioner must be someone with “wide knowledge and experience in law, social service, administration, and governance, not lower in rank than that of Commissioner/Director in the Government of Telangana.” The chief commissioner must be a retired High Court judge or someone who has already served as a commissioner.
If this Commission isn’t constituted, parents can appeal the Collector’s ruling in the High Court, the law says.
The Commission can penalise employers who don’t transfer the deducted salary as instructed by authorities. The law doesn’t specify the nature of the penalty.
Other provisions
The law allows parents to withdraw their appeal or cease receiving a part of their child’s salary at any time, through a written application mentioning clear reasons and an undertaking that the withdrawal is completely voluntary.
If one of the parents die, the other surviving parent can write to the authority that approved their claim, whether the Collector or the Senior Citizens Commission, asking to transfer the amount to their account instead.
If both parents die, the employee can submit an application to the Collector or the Commission asking to stop deducting the amount from their salary.
The law also includes a clause barring the jurisdiction of courts. “No court shall entertain any suit, application, or other proceedings in respect of any order made under this Act and no such order shall be called in question otherwise than by way of an appeal under this Act,” it says.
An annual expenditure of around Rs 2.2 crore is expected for the government to enact the law, according to the Bill.