8th Pay Commission: The winter session of Parliament begins on December 1st. During this session, questions and answers related to the 8th Pay Commission will also be discussed. Unions representing central government employees and pensioners are demanding that the current DA and DR be merged with the basic pay.

The 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has begun work. It may take 12-18 months to submit its recommendations. However, central government employees and pensioners want the recommendations implemented quickly. They are requesting this from the government. Now it remains to be seen whether this happens or whether central government employees and pensioners will be disappointed. The 7th Pay Commission was also recommended to implement the revised pay structure quickly, but this did not happen.

The 7th Pay Commission was constituted in 2014, and its recommendations came into effect on January 1, 2016. Its term expires in 2026. Generally, every 10 years, the Central Government constitutes a Pay Commission to revise the salaries of its employees. State governments also revise the salaries of their employees in line with the Central Pay Commission.

Why did the 7th CPC reject the request?

Central government employees and pensioners are represented by the Joint Consultative Machinery-Staff Side (JCM-Staff Side)/Pensioners' Association in Pay Commission negotiations. Several JCM-Staff Side associations had demanded that the Commission's recommendations be implemented from January 1, 2014. They argued that not merging DA into basic pay had significantly reduced the value of salaries. They also demanded that salary revisions be conducted every 5 years, not 10 years.

But the 7th CPC rejected these demands. It said, "This Commission was formed in 2014, well before the 10-year implementation of the 6th CPC recommendations. Therefore, its recommendations will be available for consideration on January 1, 2016, before the 10-year term of the 6th CPC ends. However, the Commission does not agree with the demand for early implementation of the revised pay structure and recommends that the 7th Pay Commission should be implemented on January 1, 2016."

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In such a situation, it is now expected that the 8th Pay Commission recommendations will not be implemented soon, but will be implemented on schedule. However, the government may provide some relief. The winter session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on December 1, 2025. During this period, questions and answers related to the 8th Pay Commission will also be closely monitored.

DA and DR should be merged into basic pay.

Unions representing central government employees and pensioners continue to demand that the existing dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) be merged into the basic pay. This is because the current DA rate is proving insufficient to mitigate the impact of actual retail inflation. Meanwhile, several employee unions and pensioner groups have expressed displeasure over the lack of a clear mention of pension reforms in the 8th Pay Commission's Terms of Reference, as well as the lack of a date for the implementation of the Commission's recommendations.