Eighth Pay Commission
The Eighth Central Pay Commission (CPC) has come into effect from January 1, 2026, but more than one crore central government employees and pensioners will continue to work under the framework of the seventh panel till the new framework is approved and notified. The Center had approved the Commission’s Terms of Reference (ToR) in October and the panel is expected to take about 18 months to submit its recommendations, which means revisions in salaries and allowances may take some time.
DA may be announced in March
The Ministry of Labor and Employment has kept the All India Industrial Workers Consumer Price Index (AICPI-IW) unchanged at 148.2 for December. Since this index is the basis for calculating Dearness Allowance (DA), DA for employees and pensioners may increase by 5 percentage points to 63 percent, which will provide short-term relief against inflation. The Center may announce this in March. According to Manjit Singh Patel, President of All India NPS Employees Union, the Center can announce DA in the beginning of March along with the festival of Holi. Employees are expected to get increased Dearness Allowance (DA) along with April salary, which will also cover the outstanding amount from January 2026. DA was to be revised in January under the half yearly cycle. In July, this allowance was increased from 54 percent to 58 percent.
Meeting of employee organizations on 25th February
The office of the Eighth Pay Commission has been set up in New Delhi and members of key central government employees and pensioners’ organizations will meet in the national capital on February 25 to discuss the proposals for the new Pay Commission. According to the letter written to the members of the Drafting Committee of the National Council (Staff Side) of the Joint Consultative Committee (NC-JCM), a memorandum on common service matters may be prepared. Representatives of Railways, Defence, Posts, Income Tax and other departments will discuss pay revision, minimum wage, allowances and service conditions etc. After preparing a common draft, the NC-JCM will submit its proposals to the Eighth Pay Commission, which will seek suggestions from all stakeholders before finalizing the recommendations.
Official website launched
The government has recently launched the 8th CPC website www.8cpc.gov.in, which will serve as a central hub for information, documentation and public participation. This website will provide information about the Commission’s ToR, structure, questionnaire and an online data portal to collect structured responses. This website, designed for government ministries, departments, employees, pensioners and other stakeholders, will provide participants with informed feedback and suggestions on the recommendations of the 8th CPC on pay, allowances, pensions and service conditions.
demands of employees
All India NPS Employees Federation has launched a week-long nationwide program with the participation of representatives from around 400 districts, raising key service and wage demands of government employees. The federation has demanded the panel to submit its report within 200 days. It has also sought uniform and simultaneous application of the rules of the Central Government to the Union Territories. In this, there has been a demand to revise the basic salary and dearness allowance (DA) for the state government employees also in line with the central government employees. The Federation has submitted letters to the Prime Minister’s Office outlining these demands.
