The Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Monday informed that the government is not considering any proposal to set up 8th Pay Commission for the central government employees.
However, soon after the statement of the Minister it was assumed that the Narendra Modi government would not set up 8th Pay Commission for its employees, even if it demands.
According to Mint, Chaudhary has denied the claim that there will be no 8th Central Pay Commission while replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on whether the Centre proposes to ensure a timely constitution of the 8th CPC the government employees so that it could be implemented on January 1, 2026.
“ln order to compensate Central Government employees for erosion in the real value of their salaries on account of inflation, dearness allowances (DA) is paid to them and the rate of DA is revised periodically every 6 months on the basis of rate of inflation as per All lndia Consumer Price lndex for Industrial Workers (AlCPl-lW) released by Labour Bureau under M/o Labour & Employment," said Chaudhary.
Pay Commissions are constituted to revise the pay structure, retirement benefits and allowances of the central government employees. The 7th Central Pay Commission was set up by the government of India in February 2014.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Centre had hiked the Dearness Allowance (DA), which is raised twice a year, by 3 per cent in March this year taking the total DA to 34 per cent. Now, it is expected to hike the DA by around 5 per cent for July-December period.
Earlier in May this year, rumours were rife that the Centre was working on measures to do away with the pay commissions and follow a performance based increment, similar to the norms for the employees in private sector undertakings.