Just days before the Budget 2025, Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the formation of 8th Central Pay Commission for central government employees and pensioners on January 16. After the government implements the recommendation of the new Pay Commission, the central government employees will get a much-anticipated salary hike. With this news, the central government has given a big-big relief to more than 1 crore central government employees and pensioners.

It is worth noting that the then UPA government incorporated the 7th Pay Commission in February 2014. After which, this Pay Commission submitted its report to the government in November 2015 and the government implemented it from January 1, 2016, which increased the pay of central government employees and pensioners.

Notably, the 7th Pay Commission suggested the fitment factor of 2.57, which led to increasing the minimum basic pay for central government employees from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000. Likewise, the government also raised the minimum pension to Rs 9,000.

8th Pay Commission: When Will Central Govt Employees Get Their New Salaries?

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has said that the government may implement the recommendations of the new pay commission from 2026. “Ahead of that, the government has approved the constitution of the 8th Pay Commission so that recommendations are made in a timely manner and can be implemented from 2026 onwards,” said Vaishnav.

Recently, secretary of the National Council of Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), Shiv Gopal Mishra said that the new Pay Commission may consider a fitment factor of “at least 2.86”. This may lead to a significant 186% pay hike for the central government employees.

This could significantly impact the salaries of central government employees and pensioners. If the government approves this fitment factor, the minimum basic salary would increase from Rs 18,000 to Rs 51,480, while pensioners’ pensions could rise from Rs 9,000 to Rs 25,740.