New Delhi. On March 7 this year, the Cabinet had approved increasing the Dearness Allowance ( DA ) by 4 percent to 50 percent of the basic salary. Central employees and pensioners benefited the most from this.

These new rates came into effect from January 1. This means that the salary of central employees has increased from the beginning of 2024.

Along with dearness allowance, the government has also increased the House Rent Allowance (HRA) of central employees. Since now DA has become 50 percent of the basic salary, the employees are demanding the 8th Pay Commission.

According to media reports, the 8th Pay Commission may be implemented from January 2026. However, till now this information has not been given by the government or the official.

It is currently being estimated that if the 8th Pay Commission is implemented, the basic salary of employees may increase by 3 percent. This means that if an employee's basic salary was Rs 18,000, it will increase by about Rs 8,000 to Rs 26,000.

When did the 7th pay commission come

The 7th Pay Commission was formed in the year 2014. Since the formation of the 7th Pay Commission, the government has increased the salary of employees by up to 23 percent. Although a Central Pay Commission is formed every 10 years. But, there is no law mandatory for the formation of a Pay Commission.

The government constitutes a pay commission only after examining the salaries, allowances and other facilities and benefits of employees and pensioners. Let us tell you that the first pay commission was constituted in the year 1946.

How is DA calculated

Along with employees, pensioners also get the benefit of dearness allowance. Pensioners get DR. DA and DR are increased twice a year.

DR and DA are calculated based on the percentage of 12-month average of All India CPI-IW. The government revised the formula for calculating DA and DR in 2006.