8th Pay Commission: Justice Ranjana Desai Named Chairperson, Two Members Announced

The Centre has named Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as the chairperson of the 8th Pay Commission, whose formation received the Union Cabinet's nod on Tuesday.

The pay panel will also include one member (part time) and one member-secretary, according to a press note issued by the Cabinet.

IIM Bangalore Professor Pulak Ghosh has been named as the member, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Pankaj Jain has been named as the member-secretary.

Desai, a retired Supreme Court judge, was earlier appointed as the chairperson of the Delimitation Commission in 2020, and then appointed as the head of the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Committee in 2022. In February 2025, she was also named as the chief of Gujarat UCC panel.

The 8th Pay Commission, under Desai's leadership, will meet all stakeholders before submitting its report to the Centre. The recommendations will include its proposal on fitment factor and other modalities for the revision of salaries and pensions.

In a press note issued following the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, it was stated that the 8th Pay Commission will submit its report in about 18 months. "Usually, the recommendations of the pay commissions are implemented after a gap of every ten years. Going by this trend, the effect of the 8th Central Pay Commission recommendations would normally be expected from 01.01.2026 (Jan. 1, 2026)," the note stated.

The 7th Pay Commission was also rolled out in July 2016, but employees were paid arrears for a six-month period starting January 2016.

At the time, the panel had recommended a fitment factor of 2.57. Although this meant that the basic salary and pension were multiplied with 2.57, the actual hike was lower – of 23.5% – as the dearness allowance and dearness relief were reset to zero.

This time as well, the DA and DR — presently standing at 58% of the basic wage — would be reset to zero once the 8th Pay Commission comes into effect.