The Finance Secretary, TV Somanathan, has announced that the government has no plans to establish the eighth Pay Commission for the 5.4 million central government employees and pensioners before the national election next year. He stated, “There is nothing in the offing regarding setting up the 8th Pay Commission. It’s not due at present.” In the past, governments have used the establishment or implementation of the Pay Commission as a strategy to win over central government employees, armed forces personnel, and family pensioners during election campaigns. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen to focus on reviewing a new pension scheme that has become a point of contention among new state and central government employees.
Under the current pension scheme, employees contribute 10% of their basic salary while the government pays 14%. This has caused political controversy, with several opposition-ruled states reverting to the old pension scheme, which guarantees pensioners 50% of their last drawn salary without any employee contribution. To address this issue, the government established a committee led by the Finance Secretary to review the system. Somanathan stated, “We have completed consultations with all concerned, and our report should be submitted soon.”
Pressure is mounting on the Finance Ministry to announce and implement the eighth pay commission, regardless of the results of the upcoming state elections. The results of these elections, which will be announced on Sunday, are considered a semi-final before the 2024 national election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a third consecutive term.
