Six months after the government announced the decision to set up a new Central Pay Commission, there has been no real progress on the ground.
The Eighth Pay Commission has not yet received an official gazette notification.
The government has yet to name a Chairman or finalise the Terms of Reference (ToR) — two crucial steps required to operationalise the commission. This delay has put the January 2026 rollout deadline at risk.
Following a meeting of Modi’s cabinet last January, there was an announcement to establish the Eighth Pay Commission. Central government employees voted in the last elections with this hope in mind. Recently, on behalf of the employee organisation, a letter was sent to the central cabinet secretary, T V Somanathan, expressing their dissatisfaction regarding the matter.
Following the cabinet’s announcement, members of the employee organisation had already begun calculating how much the basic salary and dearness allowance would increase for each individual. One member of the organisation stated that nearly six months have passed, yet the framework for the eighth pay commission has not been established.
In other words, the process of selecting the chairman and members has not yet commenced. The announcement remains at the declaration stage until the central employees’ pay commission is officially established, as indicated by the issuance of the ‘Terms of Reference’ notification. The current situation regarding the eighth pay commission has left central government employees exceedingly frustrated.
According to the rule, a pay commission is established for central government employees and retirees every 10 years. The first pay commission in India was formed in 1946, which means its recommendations came into effect one year before the Independence in 1947. Since then, pay commissions have been constituted every decade. The seventh pay commission became effective from January 2016. However, despite the announcement, six months have passed without the formation of the eighth pay commission, which means the submission of their report, the government’s review, and the implementation of a new salary structure will all be delayed.
As per the regulations, the Eighth Pay Commission is scheduled to be implemented from January 1, 2026. However, since the pay commission has not been formed even in July, it will apparently not be possible for it to come into effect from January 2026.
According to sources from the Central Government Employees’ Organisation, the National Council Joint Consultative Machinery has recently expressed its dissatisfaction in a letter to the Central Cabinet Secretary Somanathan regarding this matter.
The letter stated that the government had sought advice and proposals from the Central Employees’ Organisation, which had been communicated to the government a long time ago. However, the government has yet to take any action concerning the formation of the pay commission. They have written in the letter that a commission typically takes about 16 to 18 months to submit its report, and thus, they had hoped for a similar timeline this time as well. They questioned the likelihood of the pay commission being established in 2026 which seemed to be gradually diminishing.