DA Merger Update: The 8th Pay Commission headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai recently held its meeting in Puducherry on September 9. The next meeting of the 8th Pay Commission is scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on September 16, 17 and 18. Since its formation on November 3, 2025, the 8th Pay Commission has held several meetings in different cities across the country. In these meetings, major employee unions and stakeholders have prominently raised issues related to salary revisions, fitment factor, pension reforms and merger of dearness allowance (DA) with basic pay.
Demand for merger of DA with basic pay once it reaches above 25%
Employees and pensioner unions have urged the 8th Pay Commission panel to consider merging dearness allowance with basic pay once it reaches above 25%. If this proposal is accepted, central government employees will see significant salary growth, with employees at lower pay levels benefiting significantly.
Why are employee groups making this demand?
According to All India National Pension System Employees Federation (AINPSEF), such a merger will help in achieving much faster salary hike in the coming years and employees will not have to wait for 10 years for a good hike. The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) in its official memorandum submitted to the 8th Pay Commission has demanded that DA (Dearness Allowance) be merged with the basic pay if it crosses 25%. Other major unions have also demanded from the 8th Pay Commission to merge DA with the basic pay.
What is the current situation?
Currently, dearness allowance (DA) is revised twice a year. Currently, it is not automatically merged with basic pay. Furthermore, organizations have proposed higher annual increments. The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) and the All India National Pension System Employees Federation (AINPSEF) have suggested annual increments of 6 and 7 percent, respectively.
How can the salary of Level 6 employees double in 7 years?
We can understand how the proposed DA merger might affect employees’ salaries by looking at the case of Level 6 employees in the central government. Under the 7th Pay Commission, their current pay is ₹35,400. Now, assuming a fitment factor of 2.1, the revised basic pay under the 8th Pay Commission would be ₹74,340. If we consider the 7% annual increment proposed by the All India National Pension System Employees Federation (AINPSEF) and also take an average 4% DA increase, the basic pay of employees is estimated to reach ₹1,19,374 by January 1, 2033. Meanwhile, the DA amount would be Rs 33,425. In this case, the estimated gross salary (including basic pay and DA) would be around Rs 1,52,798.
What happens to DA with basic pay after the merger?
The calculation shows that by January 2033, employees’ estimated gross salary will be Rs 1,52,798. This will be more than double the estimated revised basic pay of Rs 74,340 in January 2026.