8th Pay Commission – The Central Government has approved and constituted the 8th Pay Commission. The review process for this commission is underway. It is expected to be officially implemented within a year and a half. Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing about whether dearness allowance (DA) will be included in the basic salary.

This question was raised in Parliament on the first day of the winter session, prompting the government to clarify. The Finance Ministry clarified the situation, stating that the government has no proposal to include dearness allowance and dearness relief in the basic salary.

The government is not going to include dearness allowance (DA) in the basic salary under the 8th Pay Commission. Discussions about this were rife on social media, but the government put an end to all speculation.

The government clarified in Parliament.

On the very first day of the winter session of Parliament, MP Anand Bhadauria asked two important questions. The first question was whether the government is considering including DA in the basic salary. The second question asked about the official notification. The Ministry has given a clear answer to this.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that the notification for the 8th Pay Commission has been duly issued on November 3, 2025. The Commission will consist of Justice Ranjan Prabha Desai (Chairperson), Professor Pulak Ghosh (Part-time Member), and Pankaj Jain (Member Secretary).

Following his clarification, the rumours surrounding the merger of DA and DR have now been completely dispelled. A few days ago, there were discussions that DA and DR increases might stop after 2026. This will be included in the 8th Pay Commission. The government also clarified that there is no such proposal. DA/DR will continue to increase every six months based on the AICPI-IW index.

Will it impact employees’ pockets?

The Finance Ministry’s response clearly states that DA and DR will not be linked to basic salary for now. There will be no change in basic pay. DA and DR will continue to increase every six months as before. It’s important to note that since basic pay remains unchanged, there will be no direct impact on pension, PF (Provident Fund), HRA, and other allowances.