By Admin 
8th Pay Commission: As time is passing, new news is also coming out regarding the 8th Pay Commission. Now another new update has come out, which is useful for central employees and pensioners. In fact, now another big demand has been raised to reduce the burden of inflation on government employees.
Federation of National Postal Organizations (FNPO) has sent a letter to Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Chairperson of the 8th Pay Commission. FNPO has demanded from the government to merge 50 percent dearness allowance (DA) in the basic salary. It has suggested implementing it as ‘interim relief’ from January 1, 2026.
Rationale behind merging DA with basic pay
- FNPO, an organization formed for the employees of the Postal Department in India, says that the prices of food items have increased in the last few years. Expenditure on medical treatment has increased. The prices of petrol and diesel have also increased rapidly. This has put pressure on the pockets of employees and pensioners.
- It was told that earlier also when DA crossed the 50 percent mark, the Pay Commission had advised to merge a part of it with the basic pay to reduce the impact of inflation.
- FNPO also pointed out that since benefits like HRA (House Rent Allowance), Transport Allowance and Gratuity depend on the basic pay, merging DA will also increase these benefits. This will benefit the employees financially in the long run.
- It was also argued that it may take a long time for the final recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission to be announced and implemented. Till then this interim step is necessary to provide relief to the employees.
There will be a big change in the salary structure
If the government accepts this demand of the employees, then there will be an increase in HRA. As basic pay increases, your house rent allowance will also increase. This will prove beneficial for retiring employees because pension and gratuity will be calculated on the basis of changed basic pay, due to which the payment will be increased. With this, all other pay-linked allowances will also increase.
Suppose if your basic salary is Rs 20000 and DA is 50 percent, then you will get 10000 DA. By merging DA with basic pay, your total salary will become Rs 30,000. That means Rs 10,000 received under DA will be added to your basic salary. If basic salary increases, all other allowances will also automatically increase. Apart from HRA, PF contribution will increase, gratuity received after retirement will increase.
In future, if DA increases again by 3 or 4 percent, then it will be calculated on the new basic pay (30000) instead of the old basic pay (20000).
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