“The Commission is scheduling meeting with maximum number of Unions / Associations during these dates. However, due to compressed schedule, all requests for interaction during these dates may not be accepted,” it noted.
Constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, the 8th CPC is set to make big decisions on salary hikes and fitment factor, based on which updated compensation for central government employees and pensioners will be finalised. It had issued Terms of Reference (ToR) in November last year and since then, there has been much speculation over implementation of the salary hikes, arrears, amendments and proposed changes to pension structures.
8th Pay Commission to hold more meetings
As per the release, the panel will also hold more meetings in the national capital and in other states and union territories “in due course” over the next months. The update shall be made on the Commission’s website, it added.
“Interested stakeholders outside Delhi NCR may seek appointment for interaction with the Commission in their State / UT or nearby State / UT at that stage,” as per the release.
The Pay Commission is a government panel established every 10 years to revise pay, allowances and pensions of central government employees and retired former servicemen. It is also responsible for wider implications of these revisions on contributions, retirement benefits and government spending. The current panel is the eight such constituted by the central government since Independence.
How will the 8th Pay Commission make its decisions?
The 8th Pay Commission is chaired by Former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. Other members on the panel are Professor Pulak Ghosh, tenured Professor of Finance, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, as a Member of the Commission and Pankaj Jain, former IAS, as Member-Secretary.
The panel will gather views and inputs from employee unions, labour groups, ministries, pension bodies and other similar stakeholders, which will then be analysed to decide allowances, pension formula and salary structures for the relevant employee and retiree groups.
Discussions and feedback from stakeholders are also solicited before the Commission provides its final recommendations. Notably, it opened formal memorandum submissions and scheduled stakeholder consultations in March, April and May.
How long does it take from recommendations to be implemented?
The 8th Pay Commission was notified on 17 January 2025 and scheduled to come into force by 1 January 2026. However, final recommendations are still pending.
Notably, when we use the previous pay commission timelines as reference, the process is a lengthy one. The 7th Pay Commission took two and a half years from formation to rollout, and the 6th Pay Commission took two years; while the 5th Pay Commission took three and a half years to be implemented.
Can central govt employees expect salary, pension hikes?
With the fitment factor reportedly under revision and likely to rise, salaries are also set to rise. The 8th Pay Commission salary hike will be decided on the basis of the fitment factor that will be suggested by the members of the CPC.
As many as 50 lakh central government employees, including defence personnel, and around 65 lakh retired central government pensioners, including defence retirees, could see basic salary rise to ₹51,480 from ₹18,000.
Besides salary hikes for employees, pension payouts for retired central government employees are also likely to increase proportional to the new basic pay structure.
