8th Pay Commission News: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the 8th Pay Commission earlier this month which is expected to benefit over 50 lakh Central government employees and more than 69 lakh pensioners who are likely to receive a significant salary and pension hike respectively when 8th CPC recommendations are implemented.
Will parents be included in 8th Pay Commission?
Meanwhile the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) has suggested that minimum wages under the 8th Pay Commission should be based on five-person family model and include elderly parents of the employee rather than the current 3-member model.

The JCM-- a three-tiered system for dialogue between the government and employees to resolve issues related to salaries working conditions and other matters-- suggests that the minimum wages of central government employees must be calculated based on a family of five which includes the husband wife their two children and two elderly parents.

Currently the 7th Pay Commission recommendations are in force under which only three family members of the employee are included; the husband who is the employee equals one unit wife = 0.8 units and their two children = 0.6 units each for a total of 3.0 units.

However the NC-JCM wants the current model to be expanded in the 8th Pay Commission to include the employees (man or woman) parents which would raise the total units to 4.2 (employee = 1 unit wife/husband = 0.8 units two dependent children = 0.6 units each and parents of the employee = 0.6 units each).
How units are decided under 7th Pay Commission?
Under the 7th Pay Commission which is currently in force the family unit is taken into account while calculating an employees benefits including the HRA (House Rent Allowance) CCA (City Compensatory Allowance) Transport Allowance and LTC (Leave Travel Concession).

The calculation takes into account the expenses as well as liabilities/dependents of the employee with an objective to estimate additional expenditure incurred by his/her family especially in metropolitan cities on accommodation travel and other essential needs.

The unit system used in the 7th Pay Commission is designed based on cost of living and considers the husband who is the employee as the primary earner while the wife and children (two children up to 18 years old or dependent) are considered dependents.

The unit system is based on the Consumption Unit Model derived from the NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) Consumption Expenditure Survey and takes into account actual cost of living rather than liabilities. In case the wife is also a government employee both count as separate units but the HRA is adjusted.
When will Centre implement 8th Pay Commission?
If we go by the implementation of previous pay commissions the government usually takes about 18 to 24 months to implement the recommendations of the commission. Thus its unlikely that 8th Pay Commission would be implemented before mid-2027 while reports suggest that the next CPC implementation might be pushed back to early 2028.

As per a report by Kotak Institutional Equities 8th Pay Commission might be implemented in 2026 or early 2027.

On November 3 Prime Minister Narendra-led Union Cabinet approved the terms of reference (ToR) of the 8th Pay Commission which will benefit 50 lakh central government employees and 69 lakh pensioners and will have implications on the emoluments of the staff of state governments.

The ToR of the commission was approved by the Cabinet about nine months after it gave an in-principle nod to setting up the 8th Pay Commission and the ToR has been finalised after consultation with various ministries state governments and staff side of joint consultative machinery according to an official statement.