8th Pay Commission: Central employees are looking forward to the rollout of the Eighth Pay Commission’s recommendations. Back in October, the central government gave the green light for the terms and conditions to set up the Eighth Central Pay Commission. This commission is set to deliver its recommendations to the government in 18 months, but there’s still some uncertainty about when these recommendations will actually kick in. While it’s anticipated that the Eighth Pay Commission’s suggestions will be put into action starting January 1, 2026, there are rumors of potential changes.
The All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) has raised alarms about the government’s recently issued Terms of Reference (TOR) that fail to specify when the 8th Pay Commission recommendations will take effect. The federation has sent a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman voicing its worries.
AIDEF pointed out that this ToR indicates that the Centre might be looking to alter the long-standing tradition of rolling out Pay Commission recommendations every decade. The employees’ federation remarked, “In the Terms of Reference (ToR) provided to the 7th Pay Commission, there was a clear ToR to suggest the effective date of its recommendations, but there’s no such mention in the ToR for the 8th Pay Commission.” According to the Employees’ Federation, it seems like the government is planning to make a unilateral decision about when the 8th Pay Commission recommendations will be implemented.
What did the Union Minister say?
However, when questioned about when the Commission’s recommendations would be put into effect, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav mentioned that the exact date would only be decided after the interim report is released, but it’s most likely to start from January 1, 2026. Generally, Pay Commission recommendations are rolled out for central employees every 10 years. Considering this norm, the Eighth Pay Commission’s recommendations are also expected to be implemented from January 2026.
