8th Pay Commission Big Update: The Budget 2026 speech has disappointed Central government employees and pensioners as the Finance Minister made no announcement on a salary hike under the 8th Central Pay Commission. The unions have warned of a pan-India strike on February 12 unless the PM Modi-led government opens meaningful talks on the 8th CPC and staffing issues. The Confederation of Central Government Employees & Workers (CCGEW) has written a letter to the cabinet secretary seeing immediate talks. The union has warned that continued inaction on the 8th pay may lead employees from various government departments to protest.
What Are The Demands Of Employees?
The central government constituted the 8th Pay Commission in November last year with an 18-month timeline to submit its report. Union raised the issue that the current framework ignores concerns of the employees, requesting to change the Terms of Reference (ToR) to ensure that formal submissions from the CCGEW and the National Council (Staff Side) of the Joint Consultative Machinery are taken into account.
8th Pay Commission: What Are the Demands of Employees?
The central government constituted the 8th Pay Commission in November last year with an 18-month timeline to submit its report. The Union raised the issue that the current framework fails to address employees’ concerns, requesting that the Terms of Reference (ToR) be amended to ensure that formal submissions from the CCGEW and the National Council (Staff Side) of the Joint Consultative Machinery are taken into account.
- 50 percent DA merger and Dearness Relief (DR) with basic pay. DA and DR should also be included in pension.
- Employees have demanded a relief of 20 percent on pay and pension, effective January 1 this year.
- They have demanded Pension reforms, which includes scrapping NPS and Unified Pension Scheme. Employees also want to restore OPS.
- Immediate release of three DA/DR instalments which are frozen since the Covid-19 period.
- Immediate action on the restoration of pension commutation
8th Pay Commission: Staffing and Service Conditions
- Apart from pay and pension matters, employee unions highlighted staff shortages and service-related concerns
- Centre should lift caps on compassionate appointments
- Should fill vacant posts
- Should end outsourcing of government services
8th Pay Commission: Union Budget 2026
In her Budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman focused on capital expenditure, infrastructure and reforms. However, she didn’t talk about any allocation or timeline for implementing salary or pension revisions under the 8th CPC.
8th Pay Commission: Union Budget 2026: No Hike Announced
As the 8th CPC process is underway, the government restrict itself making the budgetary provisions regarding salaries and pensions. In the absence of a dedicated allocation to manage the fiscal impact, a hike in FY26–27 seems unlikely.
