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.
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