8th Pay Commission: The government is reportedly preparing to give a major gift to central government employees and pensioners, which is being widely discussed. Will the government merge the Dearness Allowance (DA) with the basic salary before the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission? Several big questions are being raised. Another question is whether the term of the 7th Pay Commission will end completely on December 31, 2025.
Will the DA increase for the first half of January 2026 be based on the 7th Pay Commission? Although the work on the 8th Pay Commission has started, its implementation is still a long way off. Nothing can be said officially about the DA increase at this time. Media reports are making various claims.
Read More:Â Amazon Great Republic Day Sale- Top 3 soundbars at big discounts of up to 87%.
Read More:Â JioHotstar are launching new monthly plans with affordably priced entertainment.
Delay in the implementation of the new Pay Commission?
Generally, any pay commission takes about 18 months to submit its report. Then, the process of considering the report, cabinet approval, and implementation takes a minimum of 6 more months. The 8th Pay Commission is unlikely to be implemented before 2027.
In this situation, employee organisations are demanding that the existing 58 per cent DA be merged with the basic pay as a relief measure. The government has given a clear answer regarding this. Let’s understand what the government’s proposal is regarding the DA merger.
Know the government’s responsibility.e
The central government has no proposal to merge the DA. The government has made its position very clear on this demand. In a written reply given in December 2025, the government stated that there is no pending proposal to merge the existing DA with the basic pay.
Read More:Â Realme P4 Power will have a powerful Dimensity CPU, 12GB of RAM, and a 10,000mAh battery!
Read More: ‘Axar Patel is right…’- Ravichandran Ashwin’s suggestion to Jadeja after the IND vs NZ ODI series
Incidentally, the DA/DR is increased every six months to mitigate the effects of inflation. It is based on the AICPI-IW (Consumer Price Index). But this is not sufficient.
Why the discussion about the DA merger?
Central government employees have been demanding the merger of DA with basic salary for a long time. This would lead to a significant increase in the basic salary of central government employees. This would automatically increase HRA, TA, and other allowances as well. This will also provide a direct benefit in the calculation of pensions. The current DA does not accurately reflect the true picture of inflation. Therefore, they are demanding that it be implemented as interim relief.
What happened before?
For your information, during the 5th Pay Commission, the rule was that when the DA reached 50%, it was merged with the basic salary. Based on this, 50% DA was merged with the basic salary in 2004. However, the 6th Pay Commission disagreed with this approach.
The commission argued that if the DA is merged with the basic salary, the base year for the inflation index would have to be changed, which could significantly reduce future DA rates.
