8th Pay Commission News: Discussions regarding the 8th Pay Commission are increasing. In particular, demands are being raised for adding Dearness Allowance (DA) to the basic salary. For the last few days, it was being speculated that the government will not increase DA and DR and will merge it with basic pay. Now the government has made its stand clear on this. Contrary to the expectations of many different unions, the government has refused any proposal to merge the existing Dearness Allowance (DA) or Dearness Relief (DR) with basic pay.

Why was this demand arising?

In fact, the employee unions argued that the rate at which DA and DR will be increased is insufficient to control inflation in today’s time, hence both of them should be merged into the basic pay. This will increase the basic salary and accordingly other allowances like HRA, TA will also be calculated. Overall, the salary of employees will increase more.

What was said by the government?

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on December 1, 2025, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the government has no proposal to merge the existing DA with basic pay. This answer was given to a question asked by MP Anand Bhadauria, in which he had asked that central employees and pensioners are facing the highest inflation in 30 years, while DA and DR are not matching with real-time retail inflation.

DA-DR was increased before Diwali

This year, after 3 percent increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) before Diwali, now DA for employees and DR for pensioners is 55 percent of their basic salary or pension.

Changes DA/DR twice a year on the basis of All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW). First time in January and second time in July. Employees federations were demanding to merge DA with basic pay to reduce the impact of rising inflation. However, despite these demands, the government seems committed to the existing structure with periodic adjustments rather than a one-time merger.

Also read:

Big news for taxpayers! Don’t miss these 4 big deadlines in December, you may get notice with penalty

Haryana Government has approved increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for those state employees who are drawing salary as per the pay structure of 5th Pay Commission. According to the revised rate, DA has been increased from the existing 466 percent to 474 percent, which will be effective from July 1, 2025.

Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, who holds the responsibility of Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department, has issued an order in this regard. The increased DA will be provided with the salary of November 2025, while the arrears from July to October 2025 will be given in December 2025.

As per financial rules, if the DA amount contains fractions of 50 paise or more, it will be rounded off to the next whole rupee, and fractions of less than 50 paise will be ignored.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given a big gift on Diwali. The dearness allowance of 28 lakh employees and pensioners of the state has been increased by 3 percent. This big decision has been taken by the Chief Minister in the larger interest. The government will bear the additional expenditure of Rs 1960 crore till March 2026. Now dearness allowance has increased from 55 percent to 58 percent.

This decision of Yogi Adityanath government will come into effect from 01 July 2025. The Chief Minister said, “The government is fully committed to the interests of employees and pensioners. It is being considered a sensitive step of Yogi government for relief from inflation and improvement in living standards.

How much will the burden increase on the UP government?

The Chief Minister has given instructions that the increased dearness allowance and relief should be given in the form of cash payment from October 2025. There will be an additional cash expenditure of Rs 795 crore in November 2025. Rs 185 crore will be deposited in the GPF of OPS personnel. The government will bear an additional burden of more than Rs 550 crore on arrear payments from July to September 2025. The state government will bear an additional expenditure of Rs 245 crore every month from December 2025.

Bonus instructions for government employees

Earlier, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed to give bonus to government employees on the occasion of Diwali. Before Diwali, it was announced to give bonus to 14.82 lakh non-gazetted government employees of the state for the financial year 2024-25. Employees will get this bonus equal to 30 days’ emoluments based on the maximum limit of monthly emoluments of Rs 7000. Every employee will be given Rs 6,908 as bonus.

CM Yogi Adityanath had said during this time, “This bonus is a symbol of respect from the state government towards the hard work, loyalty and contribution of the employees.” However, there is a wave of happiness among the government employees due to the decision of the state government to increase the dearness allowance as well as give bonus.

DA Hike: Before Diwali, many state governments have given good news to their employees. The governments of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have announced an increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) of employees and pensioners.

3 percent increase in Jharkhand

Jharkhand government on Tuesday increased the DA of state employees by three percent to 58 percent. DR for pensioners has also been increased to 58 percent. Earlier this rate was 55 percent. This increase will be effective from July 1. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. This decision will benefit about three lakh employees and pensioners of the state. A total of 24 proposals were approved in the meeting, including the proposal to purchase 207 Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances.

DA-DR increased by 2 percent in Madhya Pradesh

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s cabinet has announced a two percent increase in DA and DR of state employees and pensioners. Along with this, the state government has also decided to form ‘ShreeAnn Federation’ to promote ShreeAnn (coarse grains).

3 percent increase in Uttarakhand

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s government has given big relief to the state employees before Diwali. The government has increased DA and DR by three percent. After this, dearness allowance has increased from 55 percent to 58 percent. This increase will also be applicable from July 1. About 2.5 lakh employees of the state will benefit from this.

DA increased by 3 percent in Himachal Pradesh also

Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s government has also announced to increase the DA of state employees and pensioners by three percent before Diwali. Along with this, it has also been decided to give the arrears from April to September to the employees before Diwali.

Also read: What is such a big threat to the US dollar? President Donald Trump is haunted by fear

Da hike in July 2025: It is being said that a big gift can be given to government employees and pensioners before Rakshabandhan on behalf of the central government. The government can increase their dearness allowance – DA. The last time the central government had increased the DA by two percent in March this year, after which DA increased to 55 percent.

The government revise the dearness allowance at an interval of every six months, these are two months- January and July. After the approval of the Union Cabinet, this allowance is implemented. But, do you know on what basis the government decides to increase the DA of central personnel? Let us know about this in detail.

How is DA decided?

Actually, dearness allowance CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers) is based on the Consumer Price Index for industrial workers. This index is based on the prices of everyday things – like clothes, food items, fuel etc. Dearness allowance is made on a particular formula, which is based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index) issued by the Labor Bureau of the Ministry of Labor.

The government takes out its average by taking CPI-IW data for the last 12 months and then decides the DA from the formula of the Seventh Pay Commission. It can be understood that the CPI-IW average has been 143.3 in July 2025. That is, according to the current base year, the data that comes updated is calculated as expensive.

What is the calculation formula?
The government takes out its average by taking CPI-IW data for the last 12 months and then decides the DA from the formula of the Seventh Pay Commission.

DA (%) = [(AICPI – 115.76) ÷ 115.76] × 100

AICPI = 12 months CPI-IW average (based on 2016 base year = 100)
115.76 = This is Aadhaar average (CPI value of January 2016)

For example-

Suppose the average CPI-IW = 139.10 of 12 months is, then da = [(139.10 – 115.76) ÷ 115.76] × 100
= (23.34 ÷ 115.76) × 100
= 20.16%

That is, dearness allowance will be equal to about 20 percent.

How much can DA increase this time?

If the CPI-IW averaged by July 2025 is around 143.3, then the increase of 3 to 4 percent in DA is considered possible. In such a situation, DA can increase from 55% to 58-59%, which will be a relief news for millions of central employees and pensioners.

ALSO READ: First Indian Proctor & Gamble Company CEO, Shailesh Jejurikar gets a big responsibility

Da hike in July 2025: Central government employees and pensioners can get Goodnues before Rakshabandhan. They can get at least one more DA (Dearness Allowance) under the current seventh pay commission.

In view of the latest data of inflation, the dearness allowance of central government employees is likely to increase by 3 to 4 percent in July 2025. This will provide relief to crores of central government employees of the country.

An announcement is made twice a year

The increase in dearness allowance is usually announced twice a year in February-March and September-October, which is implemented from January and July respectively. This helps the employees to struggle with rising inflation. In March this year, the current DA rate with 2 percent hike is 55 percent. DA is given to government employees, while DR pensioners get.

How is the calculation of DA?

Calculation of dearness allowance is done for laborers based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW). The AICPI-IW index is released on the basis of retail prices raised from 317 markets of 88 industrial centers in the country.

Its information is given by the Labor Bureau associated with the Ministry of Labor and Employment every month that how much inflation has increased or reduced for the laborers and then on the basis of this, it is decided how much dearness allowance is to be increased.

In March 2025, the meter of inflation was at AICPI-IW 143, which increased to 144 by May. According to this, there can be an increase of three to four percent in dearness allowance. The government calculates DA on the basis of the average of the CPI-IW data of the last 12 months and the formula mentioned under the 7th Pay Commission.
Dearness allowance (%) = [(12-महीने का औसत CPI-IW – 261.42) ÷ 261.42] × 100

Here is the time base assumed under the 261.42 Seventh Pay Commission.

CPI-A and CPI-RL fall in both

However, the CPI-IW data for May 2025 has not yet been fully released, yet it is being broadly estimated by the new trend of inflation. According to the Ministry of Labor, retail inflation for agriculture and rural workers declined to 2.84 percent and 2.97 percent respectively in May 2025, which is more than 3.5 % in April. Both CPI-A and CPI-RL have reduced marginally to 1305 and 1319 points, which shows a decline in rural inflation.

Although the CPI-Al and CPI-Rl are not directly used for calculations of dearness allowances, they indicate widespread inflation trends that may also appear in CPI-IW. If the CPI-IW remains stable in the coming months or increases marginally, the government can approve the increase of 3-4 percent in dearness allowance, which will make the dearness allowance 58 % or 59 percent. The final hike will be detected only after the release of the CPI-IW data of June 2025.

Also read:

India’s core infrastructure sector is moving fast, growth at three months high level in June

Eighth pay commission: Central employees and pensioners are eagerly waiting for the eighth salary. But there are many questions about this in his mind that after all, how much will his salary and HRA be increased and will some fitment factor be. Along with this, will there be a basic salary and how much will be found on children’s education and travel allowance. In fact, in the Eighth Pay Commission, all these things will be decided on the basis of fitment factor and it will affect from HRA to travel allowance.

How will salary be decided

It is believed that the salary in the Eighth Pay Commission will be decided on the basis of 2.08 fitments. Earlier, the Seventh Pay Commission had a 2.57 fitment factor, while the Sixth Pay Commission had a fitment factor 1.86. In such a situation, this change will happen only after the report and announcement of the Pay Commission. But it is believed that if the fate of 2.08 seems to be there, then the basic and other allowances of all central employees will increase significantly.

How much salary will increase

In this way, after the introduction of Fitment Factor 2.08, the salary of employees up to the Grade 1900 of Eighth Pay Commission Level-2 can increase to Rs 52,555. Whereas the salary of employees up to 2400 of Level-4 can increase to Rs 75,762.

Similarly, the salary of employees up to Grade 2800 of Level-5 will increase to Rs 96,301, while the salary of employees with Grade 4200 of Level-6 will increase to Rs 94,883. Whereas the salary of Grade 4800 of Level-8 will increase to Rs 1,13,190. Whereas the salary of Grade 5400 employees of Level-9 will increase to Rs 1,146,583.

It is worth noting that the Pay Commission consists of Senior Economists, Retired Justice, Experts and Experience Officers, who talk to the trade union and others and submit their reports to the government. After this, the government stays on the government to implement the final decision.

Also read: How can India become developed till 2047? Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan told the whole strategy