Basic Pay Hike: A senior official of the Central Government Employees Federation said that the previous Seventh Pay Commission had proposed that when the dearness allowance increases to 50 percent, the basic salary should automatically be increased.
DA Hike: On one hand, lakhs of central employees are waiting for the DA hike to be done by the government before Diwali. Right now the government is giving 50 percent dearness allowance to the employees. Now that the dearness allowance has increased to 50 percent, the employee unions believe that the panel will recommend linking the basic salary revision with the increase in dearness allowance. A senior official of the Central Government Employees Federation said that the previous Seventh Pay Commission had proposed that when the dearness allowance increases to 50 percent, the basic salary should be increased automatically.
A senior official of the Employees Federation said that the proposal was given under the Seventh Pay Commission but it was not accepted by the government. He said that we hope that the same recommendation will be made under the Eighth Pay Commission. Shiv Gopal Mishra, head of the All India Railway Employees Federation, expressed hope that the 8th Pay Commission will recommend that the basic salary should be increased when the DA increases to more than 50%. He said, ‘The 7th Pay Commission had proposed this. Later, the Center did not approve it. We will also raise this demand before the 8th Pay Commission.’
Let us tell you that the DA given by the Central Government to its employees was last increased by 4% in March 2024. At that time the DA increase increased from 46% to 50% of the basic salary. According to the report of the Seventh Pay Commission, many allowances including HRA are automatically revised when they reach 50% of the basic salary. The Central Government Employees Federation also confirmed that these allowances, including HRA, were increased accordingly earlier this year.
However, there has been no increase in the basic salary as such a recommendation was not part of the Seventh Pay Commission report. Mishra said that an official forum to resolve disputes between the government and the employees said that they have raised the matter before the government that DA has already exceeded 50% of the basic salary.
The Employees Forum has also presented a memorandum to Union Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan, requesting him to expedite the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission. Usually, the Central Government constitutes a Pay Commission once every 10 years to revise the salaries of employees. The Seventh Pay Commission was formed in February 2014 by the then Manmohan Singh-led government. Its recommendations were implemented from January 2016.
