8th Pay Commission: Employee Unions Push For OPS Revival, Higher Salaries, And Pension Reforms

The 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) is in the final stages of formulation. The Pay Commission set up by the government will review and revise the pay structures of government employees, and has invited associations, unions and other stakeholders to present their views, opinions and suggestions regarding the upcoming pay structure.

The Commission has received an 18-month deadline to submit the final recommendations for the 8th CPC. At present, the CPC has completed nearly one-third of the timeline set. The process is quite lengthy, as it depends on various internal and external matters for discussion before the Commission presents its recommendations to the government.

The Latest Update

The latest talks related to the 8th CPC have intensified after the employee unions have urged the government to bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), along with demanding a significant hike in the minimum basic pay. The demands were submitted by the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), which is the main body representing the employees of the central government bodies.

The employee body has also linked dearness allowance (DA) reforms with the proposal of a higher fitment factor. The proposal is hike to a factor of 3.833, which could raise the minimum salary from Rs 18,000 to almost Rs 69,000.

Deadline Extended For Employee Demands

Along with this, the 8th Pay Commission has also extended the deadline for submitting the employee memorandums from April 30, 2026 to May 31, 2026. The extension came after a request from the NC-JCM, which stated that employee bodies require more time to prepare their proposals. The Commission has also clarified that all submissions must be made only through the online portal. Email or physical copies won’t be considered as a memorandum

The Centre had begun the consultations for the CPC by announcing a series of stakeholder meetings across several key cities in India. These meetings have been held in Delhi, Pune, and Hyderabad, while those scheduled for Srinagar and Leh (Ladakh) are scheduled for June, according to previous notices. These meetings are a crucial step in moving forward with the new pay scale, allowances and pensions for government employees and pensioners.

The Centre has also announced another addition to this list of places where the meetings are to be held. The 8th CPC will be visiting Lucknow to interact with the employee unions, government stakeholders, institutions and associations to gather more feedback and insights into the demands of the employees.