8th Pay Commission : The implementation of the 8th Pay Commission will directly benefit approximately 5 million central government employees and 6.5 million pensioners. This is a significant relief for those who have been waiting for a long-awaited increase in salaries and allowances. All eyes are now on the completion of the report.
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. Payments may begin slightly later, but employees will definitely receive arrears for that period.
The commission is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. She is joined by Professor Pulak Ghosh as a part-time member and Pankaj Jain as member-secretary. The team will submit its full report to the government within the next year and a half. The big question now is how much salaries and pensions will increase. No official figures have yet been released by the government, but based on previous commissions, it is estimated that salaries and pensions could increase by 30 to 34 percent.
Regarding the fitment factor, it was 2.57 in the 7th Pay Commission. This time, it is expected to be increased to 2.86 or higher. If this happens, an employee with a basic salary of Rs 2,000 could see his salary increase to around Rs 71,500. With the increase in salary, the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) given to pensioners will also automatically increase. This means that the impact will not only be felt by salaried individuals but also by pensioners. Both will receive relief from rising inflation.
The new salary and pension rates will be implemented retrospectively from January 1, 2026. This means that employees and pensioners will receive the full arrears for the months between the reporting date and the implementation date. This will not harm anyone. Employees’ unions have also demanded the government address several other issues, such as reducing the pension commutation period from 15 years to 12 years, increasing the medical allowance from Rs 3,000 to Rs 20,000, and simplifying CGHS facilities.
However, the All India Defence Employees Federation has stated that the 8th Pay Commission’s Terms of Reference excludes 6.9 million pensioners. The organization says that the mention of pensioner review has been removed this time. There has been no official statement from the government on this matter.