(The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect that of Nagaland Tribune.)
The Union Cabinet has approved the formation of the Eighth Central Pay Commission (CPC), to be implemented hopefully by 2026. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced that the committee would be constituted shortly, and the Cabinet decision has been taken well in advance so that the recommendations could be implemented from 01 Jan 2026 when the term of the 7 CPC will cease to exist. Traditionally, Central Pay Commissions are established every 10 years to review and recommend revision of the pay scales, allowances, and benefits of over one crore central government employees and pensioners. The 7th Pay Commission, was constituted by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 28, 2014, which submitted its report on November 19, 2015, with recommendations coming into effect from 01 Jan 2016.
It may be recalled that in 2022 and 2024, the opposition lawmakers had questioned the Government in the Parliament about the constitution of the 8 CPC for revision of the salary of Central government Employees, due to the unprecedented price rise and resentment among the employees. On 09 December 2024 the Government replied that there was no such proposal under consideration for constituting the 8 CPC. Moreover, employee forums too had raised the issue with the Ministry of Finance. The fact that 7 CPC was to cease on 01 Jan 2026 and accordingly the decision had to take sufficiently earlier, as a CPC takes one and a half to two years to deliberate and finalize its recommendations. The 7th CPC was constituted 23 Months in advance whereas Eighth CPC has been announced just 11 months in advance to the date it has to come into effect.
Read more: Cabinet approves setting up of 8th Pay Commission for Central Govt staff, pensioners
The flip-flops by the government; i.e. after denial in the Parliament and then the 8 CPC announcement by the government despite the budget session being only weeks away raises questions on its timings. An announcement during the Winter Session would have been attributed to opposition pressure so it was possibly shelved. An announcement during the Budget Session would have delayed it still further till the passing of the Budget. So, was the announcement delinking it from the Budget to take credit for the move and to probably influence the four lakh Government Employees and Pensioners residing in Delhi in the State Assembly Elections scheduled on 05 Feb 25? The Government also retains the freedom to even time the implementation till the next general elections to reap electoral benefits. Notwithstanding the above in all likelihood the implementation would be delayed and the employees and retirees may be paid arrears as applicable from 01 Jan 2026.
The Defence Pensioners would recall that in 2015, the One Rank One Pension (OROP) demand of Pensioners was not acceded by the government in conformity to the recommendations of the Koshiyari Committee. Later in 2019, the quinquennial equalization of OROP due in 2019 was not implemented by the government and the Veterans’ organization had to approach the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The equalization of OROP was done on Supreme Court orders after a delay of three years without any plausible explanation. Due to the reasons mentioned above, the timely implementation of the recommendations, i.e. by 01 Jan 2026 would be challenging for the CPC and Central Government Employees could however hope for the best. It is regrettable that governments should leverage CPCs to enhance their election fortunes. As such it would be prudent to keep one’s fingers crossed and it would also be advisable to not to count the chickens before they hatch.
Colonel Prakash Bhatt (Retd)
NOIDA
(The views expressed by the author are his personal)
