8th Pay Commission

Context:

The Union Cabinet approved the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries for central government employees.

What is the 8th Pay Commission?

The 8th Pay Commission is a high-level government body approved by the Union Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister, to revise the salaries, pensions, and allowances of central government employees.
The Pay Commissions, typically formed every decade, uses a fitment factor for salary adjustments based on inflation and other factors.
They revise pay structures based on:
- Inflation
- Economic conditions
- Government’s financial capacity
- Employee welfare needs
The last (7th) Pay Commission was implemented in 2016, so the 8th is now due, likely to come into effect around FY 2026–27.
Beneficiaries include:
- Around 50 lakh serving central government employees
- Around 65 lakhpensioners, including defence personnel
- Applies to all Group A, B, C services and equivalent defence forces

The fitment factor is a key multiplier used by Pay Commissions to calculate revised salaries.
It determines how much the basic salary increases.
- For example, in the 7th Pay Commission, the fitment factor was 2.57x, which raised the minimum basic pay to Rs18,000.
But this doesn’t mean the whole salary increased 2.57 times — the real hike was around 14.3% after all components were adjusted.
Under the 8th Pay Commission:
- A higher fitment factor is expected.
- It could lead to a salary increase up to Rs51,480 for some employees.