8th Pay Commission brings a massive update for central government employees and pensioners. The committee is holding a crucial meeting in Bengaluru right now. We break down all the latest details about your salary hike, the fitment factor
Central government employees and pensioners are keeping a close watch on Bengaluru. The 8th Pay Commission is holding key meetings in the city on October 7 and 8. The panel will then travel to Mumbai for another round of talks on October 22 and 23. Commission members are actively touring the country to meet employee and pensioner union leaders face-to-face. They are gathering ground-level feedback and direct requests from these groups.
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Committee Refuses To Sit In Delhi
The committee refuses to sit inside its Delhi headquarters. Members are travelling across various states and union territories to understand employee demands directly. The panel has visited over 14 key locations so far and held separate talks with hundreds of unions. They recently wrapped up meetings in Chennai on September 7-8 and Puducherry on September 9. The team also visited Chandigarh from September 16 to 18. Unions from Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh attended this Chandigarh session.
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18 Months To Submit Report
The Finance Ministry formed this committee on November 3, 2025. The government gave the panel exactly 18 months to submit its final report. The team has already completed 11 months of this timeline. They now have just 7 months left. Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai heads this committee.
Professor Pulak Ghosh works as a part-time member, while Pankaj Jain serves as the member secretary. The panel issued a notification on August 24 for the Bengaluru meeting and asked unions to seek appointments before September 18. Unions have time until October 10 to apply for the upcoming Mumbai meeting.
The ongoing meetings focus heavily on the new salary structure and the fitment factor. The fitment factor plays a massive role in deciding the basic pay hike under the new commission. Employees naturally have huge expectations regarding this number. Several union representatives are demanding a fitment factor of 3.83 or even higher. They want the government to increase the minimum basic pay to ₹69,000.
Pensioners are also demanding a dearness allowance revision every three months to match inflation. They want the government to merge DA and DR into the basic pay once it crosses the 25 percent mark. The committee has not taken any final decision on these demands yet.
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First Comprehensive Report
The committee will likely submit its comprehensive report in the first half of 2027, specifically by May 2027. The official 18-month deadline points to a May-June 2027 target. Some experts believe the report might arrive early by February or March 2027. The official cutoff remains May 2027, though the panel can request a time extension if necessary.
The central government will review these recommendations before making a final call on the salary hike. Employees expect the new pay structure to kick in from January 1, 2026. They will receive the pending amount as cash arrears if the government delays the rollout. Employees can track official updates directly on the 8th Pay Commission website.
