8th Pay Commission may reintroduce DA merger to Basic Pay at 50%

Even as the Center is yet to announce the 8th Pay Commission to revise the salaries of its staff, top employee unions are of the view that the panel will likely recommend linking basic pay revision with the hike in the dearness allowance.

The previous 7th Pay Commission had proposed that the basic pay should be raised automatically once the DA hike crosses 50% of it, a senior official of the Confederation of Central Government Employees said.

"They made that proposal, but it was not accepted by the government. However, we expect the 8th Pay Commission to recommend the same," the person told.

All India Railwaymen's Federation chief Shiv Gopal Mishra also expects the 8th Pay Commission to recommend that the basic pay should be raised once the DA crosses 50%. "The 7th Pay Commission had proposed it. Later, it was not approved by the Centre. We will certainly raise this demand before the 8th Pay Commission," he said.

Notably, the DA paid to central government employees was last raised by 4% in March 2024. This took the overall DA hike from 46% to 50% of the basic pay.

According to the 7th Pay Commission report, a slew of allowances including house rent allowance is eligible for automatic revision once the DA reaches 50% of the basic pay. These allowances, including HRA, were accordingly raised earlier this year, the Confederation of Central Government Employees confirmed.

However, the basic pay has not been raised as such a recommendation was not part of the final 7th Pay Commission report.

Mishra, who is also the secretary (staff side) of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery—an official platform to resolve disputes between the government and employees—said he has pointed out before the government that the DA has already crossed 50% of the basic salary.

The employee forum has also submitted a memorandum before Union Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan, urging him to expedite the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, the union leader noted.

Generally, pay commissions are formed once every 10 years by the Centre to revise the salaries of its employees. The 7th Pay Commission was formed by the then Manmohan Singh-led government on February 2014, and its recommendations were implemented from January 2016.