Government employees are worried about the 8th Pay Commission. Will salaries go up, or will some allowances be cut? Today we will talk about the changes in salary and allowances in the new 8th Pay Commission.
The central government makes a Pay Commission every 10 years. It changes the salaries and allowances of government employees. The 7th Pay Commission was in 2016. Now it is time for the 8th Pay Commission. It was announced in January 2025, but the government has not released any notification yet. People say the new commission will focus more on allowances than on salary or fitment factor.
Allowances that may change
During the 7th Pay Commission, 196 allowances were reviewed. Out of these, 52 were removed and 36 were merged. In the 8th Pay Commission, some allowances may be removed or changed to make the system simpler and more transparent.
The main goal of the 8th Pay Commission is to remove unnecessary allowances, especially those not needed due to digitization. This may increase the basic pay and dearness allowance (DA), which will also help in calculating pensions. Likely changes include:
- Travel Allowance (TA): The structure may be changed.
- Special Duty Allowances: These may be removed.
- Regional Allowances: May be removed because they are similar to other allowances.
- Old Departmental Allowances: Many old allowances may be scrapped.
Impact on employees and future
These changes may increase basic pay and DA because money from removed allowances will be added to these main parts of salary. Pension will also increase as it depends on basic pay and DA. This new system will reduce paperwork, be more efficient, and give fewer errors.
No final decision has been made yet. Discussions are going on and an update may come by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Experts say allowances should be linked to risk, job difficulty, and digitization. Many feel the Pay Commission should be reviewed more often than every ten years because of rising inflation.