8th Pay Commission: Government employees' new demand to merge 50% DA with basic salary:The Federation of National Postal Organizations (FNPO) has raised this issue to ease the burden of inflation on government employees. It has suggested implementing it as an "interim relief."

News Topical, Digital Desk : 8th Pay Commission: As time passes, new news is emerging regarding the 8th Pay Commission. Now, another new update has emerged, which is useful for central government employees and pensioners. In fact, another major demand has been raised to reduce the burden of inflation on government employees.

The Federation of National Postal Organizations (FNPO) has sent a letter to Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Chairperson of the 8th Pay Commission. The FNPO has demanded that the government integrate 50 percent of dearness allowance (DA) into the basic salary. It has suggested implementing this as an "interim relief" from January 1, 2026.

Rationale behind merging DA with Basic Pay

The FNPO, an organization for postal employees in India, says that in the past few years, food prices have risen, medical treatment costs have increased, and the price of petrol and diesel has also risen sharply. This has put a strain 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.
The FNPO also pointed out that since benefits like HRA (House Rent Allowance), transport allowance, and gratuity depend on basic pay, merging DA will increase these benefits as well. This will result in long-term monetary benefits for employees.
It was also argued that the announcement and implementation of the final recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission could take a considerable amount of time, and that this interim measure was necessary to provide relief to employees until then.

There will be a big change in the salary structure

If the government accepts this demand from employees, HRA will increase. As basic pay increases, so will your house rent allowance. This will prove beneficial for retiring employees, as pension and gratuity will be calculated based on the revised basic pay, resulting in higher payments. Additionally, all other pay-linked allowances will also increase.

Suppose your basic salary is ₹20,000 and DA is 50%, you will receive ₹10,000 as DA. Merging DA into your basic pay will bring your total salary to ₹30,000. This means that the ₹10,000 received under DA will be added to your basic salary. As your basic salary increases, all other allowances will also increase automatically. In addition to HRA, your PF contribution will also increase, and your retirement gratuity will increase.

In future, if DA increases again by 3 or 4 percent, it will be calculated on the new basic pay (30000) instead of the old basic pay (20000).