8th Pay Commission: Will govt announce pay panel's formation? Here's what Finance Secretary said

There is a significant amount of time remaining for the implementation of 8th Pay Commission, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan said, while speaking to a news channel on Friday, July 26.

Normally, the pay commissions are formed once in 10 years for an overall revision in the remuneration of government employees. The last such panel, 7th Pay Commission, was constituted in February 2014 and its recommendations were implemented from January 1, 2016.

Since the 7th Pay Commission was announced two years before its recommendations were implemented, speculations were rife that the 8th Pay Commission would also be formed in 2024.

Timing of 7th Pay Commission announcement 'unusual'

The timing of the announcement of 7th Pay Commission in 2014 was "unusual", Somanathan said.

Notably, the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government went into elections in March 2014, following the interim budget presented on February 28, 2014. The announcement of the 7th Pay Commission was made during the interim budget.

"What happened in 2014 was unusual...The announcement was made as part of a pre-election budget," the finance secretary noted.

Meanwhile, a day before the Budget 2024 was rolled out, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha on July 22 that no proposal for the setup of 8th Pay Commission was currently under consideration. However, two representations were received for the constitution of the pay panel in June 2024, he confirmed.

What employee unions expect

The NC-JCM, which had written to the Centre in June for the announcement of 8th Pay Commission, expects an announcement to be made by September this year.

On being asked about his key expectations from the 8th Pay Commission, Mishra said he would urge the panel to recommend a fitment factor of 3.68 to revise the basic salaries of government employees. This would raise the basic minimum wage to around ₹26,000.