Why the 8th Pay Commission is Taking Time: A Big Government Makeover Might Be the Reason
New Delhi, October 2025: Millions of central government employees and pensioners are waiting for news about the 8th Pay Commission, which was announced in January 2025. However, even after several months, the government hasn’t formed the committee or decided its working guidelines. This delay has left many wondering when they will see revised salaries and pensions.
Why the Wait Matters
Pay Commissions are important because they decide:
- Salary increases for current employees
- Pension hikes for retirees
- Allowances and other benefits
- Long-term financial security
Looking at past trends, these commissions usually take 2-3 years to complete their work. If the 8th Pay Commission starts soon, employees might see new pay scales only by 2028, though they would get back-dated payments from January 2026.
The Government Restructuring Connection
Meanwhile, there might be an important reason for this delay. Sanjeev Sanyal, a senior government advisor, recently revealed that the government is conducting a massive mapping exercise to understand its own structure better. “We are right now doing an exercise of mapping the government to see where all various agencies and all are. And once that is completed before the end of the year, we will have a very good sense of the landscape of the Indian central government”, Sanyal said. [Click to view News on Interview with Moneycontrol]
In simple terms, the government is counting and checking:
- How many departments it has
- How many people work in each department
- Which departments are outdated
- Where more staff is needed
Sanyal explained, “The problem isn’t that we have too many government employees. The real issue is that we have too many people in old-fashioned departments and not enough in important new areas like cybersecurity.”
What This Means for the Pay Commission
- Experts think the government might be following this sequence:
- First, complete the government mapping (by December 2025)
- Then, restructure departments – merge some, close others, create new ones
- Finally, set new pay scales for this reorganized government
This approach makes sense because it would be wasteful to design new salary structures for departments that might be merged or closed soon. This will be effective to proposed terms of reference for 8th Central Pay Commission and accordingly the constitution of the CPC.
Past Examples of Reform
The government has already shown it’s serious about reform. For example:
- Drone regulations were simplified from 77 permissions to just 7
- Mapping rules were changed to allow services like Google Maps
- Several outdated organizations have been closed or merged
What’s Next?
While government employees wait anxiously, the mapping exercise is expected to finish by December 2025. After that, we might see movement on the Pay Commission front. The 8th Central Pay Commission Term and Reference may be drafted by the Govt. The new pay structure would then be designed for a more modern, efficient government that better serves the country’s needs.
The delay might be frustrating, but it could lead to a better-organized government and fairer pay systems in the long run.
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COMMENTS
When it comes revision fir government servants, they will bring all rules etc., but revision for themselves, no commission etc., only raising of hands. But all the works and programs and collection of revenues etc., will be done by the government employees and for revision we have to wait for years only for a meager amount which is not as per the inflation or actual increase in the market. For getting votes they say many things but when it comes for real implementation, it takes years with do many restrictions. We can say that with 5 years of service politicians will get huge pensions but with 4 times of their service government servants get a very meager amount as pension.
The Govt required to consider an additional pension or salary wef 01/01/2026, if 8 CPC not finalized, and can awaited till
2028. This amount can be adjusted
from Arrear as applicable.
Take it granted that this Government will not do anything regarding pay commission till next election except increasing DA which is mandatory.
This is a useless comment. Everyone knows this Government’s negative attitude towards Government Servant’s. They are least bothered about them and very much interested in their own Perks. A year back this Government increased the Pay and Allowances of all MP’s, Minister’s, Prime Minister’s, President, Vice President, etc, etc without any Pay Commissions or opposition or hangamma. Whereas when it comes to it’s Citizen’s they have hiccups and all sorts of pains.
Is this delay because of elections not available like delhi election.
Good analysis but what the retired persons in 2027 will get any benefits after retirement if it is implemented from 2026
I am retired from ordnance factory board on 31st January 2013. I had completed seven months to continue my service but didn’t receive any increment . But who retired on December he had received the increment. It’s unjustified.