Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections next month, the Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to set up the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries of central government employees and allowances of pensioners.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the decision after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Recommendations of the last or the 7th Pay Commission came into effect in 2016 and its term would end on December 31, 2025.
“The government has taken the decision well in advance so that the recommendations can be received well before the completion of the period of completion of the 7th Pay Commission,” Vaishnaw told reporters.
The minister said the terms of reference and the names of the three-member panel would be announced soon.
The constitution of the pay commission is a decennial exercise to revise the salary structure and adjust the Dearness Allowance (DA) of serving central staff. The commission also recommends revision of Dearness Relief (DR) for those who have superannuated.
The revised pay as per the recommendations would benefit about 50 lakh central government employees and 65 lakh pensioners.
The decision would also see a revision in the salaries of Delhi government employees, which typically runs concurrently with the implementation of the pay commission report by the Centre.
Altogether, in the national capital where the BJP is engaged in a bitter electoral battle with the ruling AAP, close to four lakh state and central government employees stand to benefit from pay revision.
"We are all proud of the efforts of all government employees, who work to build a Viksit Bharat. The Cabinet's decision on the 8th Pay Commission will improve quality of life and give a boost to consumption," Prime Minister Modi posted on X.
Various trade unions in their meeting with the Union government have been pressing for the constitution of the 8th Pay Commission. The matter was also raised with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the pre-budget meeting.
The last pay commission put an additional burden of Rs 1 lakh crore on the exchequer in the financial year 2016-17. The government is expecting that a pay hike as per the next pay commission recommendation will also boost consumption and economic growth.
Most of the state governments also follow the Central Pay Commission's recommendations in revising salary structures of their employees.