8th Pay Commission Setup Further Delayed? DoPT Circular On Appointments Sparks Concern

The formal setup of 8th Pay Commission could be further delayed as the Department of Personnel and Training, or DoPT, has extended the last date for the filing up of under-secretary level posts under the panel.

The DoPT had, back in April, invited applications for four aforementioned posts under the 8th Pay Commission. The eligible candidates are officers of All India Services or any other Organized Group 'A' Services of the Government of India.

The last date for submitting the applications was May 21, which later extended till June 10, and subsequently till June 30. However, the DoPT has now issued a third extension, inviting applications till July 31.

This has sparked concerns among the stakeholders that the 8th Pay Commission may not be formally set up till at least the end of this month.

The formation of the pay panel had received the Centre's nod back in January, but it is yet to be formally constituted. The chairman and members of the 8th Pay Commission are yet to be named, and the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the panel are yet to be approved by the Centre.

The staff side of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery—an official forum representing central government employees and pensioners—expects the panel to be formally set up after the ToR is issued.

Over one crore government employees and pensioners would be positively impacted by the rollout of the 8th Pay Commission. However, the implementation of the revised salaries and pension is expected to be delayed as pay commissions generally take more than a year to submit their report.

The last pay panel, which was the 7th Pay Commission, was announced in February 2014 and the revised salaries were finally rolled out from July 2016. However, arrears were paid to the employees and pensioners as the effective date of implementation was set as Jan. 1, 2016.

Leaders of the staff side of NC-JCM expect the government to similarly fix the effective date of 8th Pay Commission's implementation as Jan. 1, 2026.