8th Pay Commission Update: There’s significant news of relief for central government employees and pensioners. The government has finally initiated the process of implementing the 8th Pay Commission.
The Cabinet recently approved its Terms of Reference (ToR), which sets the direction and timeframe for the commission’s work. This means the process of increasing employees’ salaries, dearness allowance (DA), and pensions has officially begun.
This will directly benefit approximately 5 million employees and 6.5 million pensioners across the country. This is the moment everyone has been waiting for for the past several months. Let’s understand, in simple terms, all the important points related to the 8th Pay Commission…
- First, let’s understand when the new salary and pension rates will be implemented. The government has given the commission 18 months to submit its report. It is expected that if the report is submitted on time, the new salary and pension rates will be implemented from January 1, 2026. Although payments will begin a few months later, employees and pensioners will also receive arrears for that period.
- Former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai has been appointed to head the commission. Professor Pulak Ghosh will serve as a part-time member and Pankaj Jain as member-secretary. The team will prepare the full report within 18 months.
- The most debated issue among employees is how much their salaries and pensions will increase. The government has not yet released any official figures, but based on past trends, salaries and pensions could increase by approximately 30% to 34%.
- The fitment factor is a formula used to multiply the old salary by the new salary. In the 7th Pay Commission, it was 2.57. It is believed that it could be increased to 2.86 or higher in the 8th Pay Commission. If this happens, an employee’s basic salary could increase from ₹25,000 to approximately ₹71,500.
- When the basic pay increases, the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) on pension also automatically increase. This means that not only salaries but pensioners will also get relief from inflation.
- The new salary and pension rates will be applicable with retrospective effect from January 1, 2026. That is, arrears will also be given for the number of months gap between the report coming and the implementation of the new rates.
- Manjeet Singh Patel, President of All India NPS Employees Federation, has asked the government to also pay attention to some other important issues in the 8th Pay Commission. Pensioners are demanding that the period of 40% pension commutation be reduced from 15 years to 12 years, and medical assistance under CGHS be increased. They say that the medical allowance of ₹3,000 for elderly pensioners is very less, it should be increased to ₹20,000.
- Recently, the All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) claimed that 6.9 million pensioners have been excluded from the 8th Pay Commission’s ToR. The organization says that while the 7th Commission mentioned a review of pensioners, that line has been removed this time. However, the government has not yet provided any official clarification on this matter.
- State governments generally adopt the recommendations of the central pay commission. Therefore, the 8th Pay Commission report will also impact the salaries and pensions of state employees.
- While making its recommendations, the Commission will also have to keep in mind the country’s economic condition, fiscal discipline and the need for funds for development plans.
The 8th Pay Commission is likely to bring about significant changes for government employees and pensioners in the coming months. Millions of people are set to benefit from new salaries, increased pensions, and dearness allowance. All eyes are now on when the commission will submit its report and when the government will implement it.
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