The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday, December 4, announced that Pongal gift hampers for 2026 will include Rs 3,000 in cash for ration card holders across the state. The benefit will also be extended to residents of Sri Lankan refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.
The distribution of the gift hampers, including the cash component, is expected to cost the state exchequer Rs 6,936 crore.
Earlier, the government had announced an allocation of Rs 248 crore for the Pongal package, which had led to speculation that there would be no cash assistance this year. Last year, the gift hamper did not include any cash component. In contrast, Rs 1,000 was provided as part of the hamper in both 2023 and 2024.
The hampers will be distributed to around 2.22 crore ration card holders in the state. Additionally, dhotis and saris will be provided to nearly 1.76 crore cardholders as part of the Pongal distribution.
The government had also announced, in December 2025, that Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in rehabilitation camps would receive Pongal gift hampers, including one kilogram each of rice, sugar, and sugarcane.
In 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections, the then AIADMK government had provided Rs 2,500 in cash along with the Pongal gift hampers.
Pongal is an agrarian festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu during the Tamil month of Thai. The four-day festival is observed in the second week of January each year.
The cash assistance scheme was first introduced in 2014 by the then J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government, when Rs 100 was included as part of the Pongal gift hamper.