8th Pay Commission News: No Plan To Merge DA With Basic Pay, Govt Informs Parliament

Answering the query regarding the merger of the basic pay with dearness allowance (DA), the government on Monday, December 1, informed Parliament that it is not planning to combine any part of the DA with the basic pay of the central government employees.

This comes days after the government issued the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the 8th Pay Commission. Minister of State for Finance (MoS) Pankaj Chaudhary informed response to the Lok Sabha that no proposal for the merger of the existing DA with the basic pay.

"ln order to adjust the cost of living and to protect Basic Pay/Pension from erosion in real value on account of inflation, the rates of DA/DR are revised periodically every 6 months on the basis of All lndia Consumer Price lndex for lndustrial Workers (AlCPl-lW) released by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment," the reply further read.

The Central government employees in recent days have argued Union government to merge 50% of the DA with basic pay. The  8th Pay Commission is expected only after 2027, employee groups have been advocating for an early DA-basic pay merger, which would increase the basic salary and result in future DAs being calculated on the revised amount, Hindustan Times reported.

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The Central government, on October 28, approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 8th Pay Commission, which will revise the salaries of about 50 lakh central government employees. The 8th Pay panel will submit the report within 18 months and it's likely to come into effect from January 2026, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B).

The Central government at the beginning of the year had informed the formation of the 8th Central Pay Commission to make recommendations for changes in the salaries and other employee benefits. The Union government has constituted a team to check several issues of emoluments structure, retirement benefits and other service conditions of central government employees and to make recommendations on the changes required thereon.