The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 8th Pay Commission, which is likely to be implemented from January 1, 2026.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved composition of the 7th Pay Commission, which will revise the salaries of over 50 lakh Central government employees.
In a major New year bonanza for the armed forces, the Prime Minister's Office has informed the defence ministry that the armed forces personnel would henceforth have a separate pay commission, which is delinked from the civilian pay panel.
The setting up of the Commission, whose recommendations will benefit about 50 lakh (5 million) central government employees, including those in defence and railways, and about 30 lakh (3 million) pensioners, comes ahead of the Assembly elections in 5 states in November and the general elections next year.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday increased Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) by 3 per cent for about 49.19 lakh central government employees and 68.72 lakh pensioners.
The recommendations will cost the government Rs 1,02,000 crore.
Govt is likely to find it hard to meet deficit target next year.
Unions have also demanded raising the income tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs.
India has managed high government debt-to-GDP, a slowing domestic revenue engine, lower household savings and a more hostile geopolitical environment separately in the past. But together, they threaten to undo the growth narrative on which today's optimism rests, warns Debashis Basu.
'We kept this Budget on a larger plank, rather than on one incident, however serious.'
The Union Budget for 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, which was a first, had an excellent domestic macro backdrop. According to the first advance estimates, gross domestic product (GDP) in constant prices is projected to grow 7.4 per cent in the current financial year, against 6.5 per cent in 2024-25.
The Pay Commission is an administrative system/mechanism that the government of India set up in 1956 to determine the salaries of government employees. The First Pay Commission was established in 1956, and since then, every decade has seen the birth of a commission that decides the wages of government employees for a particular time-frame.
The government may defer the implementation of the sixth Pay Commission award by a year or even two to reduce the fiscal burden of the recommendations that proposed a 28 per cent across-the-board salary increase for an estimated 4.5 million central government employees. The report of the commission headed by Justice BN Srikrishna was submitted to the government on March 24 this year, nearly a fortnight before its 18-month tenure was to end.
The Pay Commission process is symptomatic of a national crisis within the Indian state.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
The government on Monday made it clear that it does not propose to tinker with the existing mechanism of setting up Pay Commission for revision of wages for central government employees
India Inc has welcomed the Sixth Pay Commission report that suggested an average increase of 40 per cent in salaries of central government employees and said the move will not lead to a rise in inflation and revenue deficit of the government. Industry body Ficci said the pay hike would not add to inflationary conditions and revenue deficit due to buoyant revenue collections. Also, Ficci said the hike would reduce the problem of governance and attract talented personnel.
The broader theme of the performance will be -- 'Swatantra Ka Mantra - Vande Mataram' and 'Samriddhi Ka Mantra - Viksit Bharat', officials said.
A man was arrested in Gujarat for allegedly receiving a significant portion of Rs 3.71 crore siphoned off from a Mumbai woman in a 'digital arrest' scam. The cybercriminals impersonated law enforcement and court officials, staging a fake online hearing to deceive the victim.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against the chairman of Al Falah University, alleging money laundering and the appointment of individuals with terror links without proper verification.
The upcoming Republic Day Parade will center around the sesquicentenary of 'Vande Mataram,' featuring themed decorations, performances, and special guests.
The Centre on Thursday hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) to 50 per cent of basic pay from the existing rate of 46 per cent effective from January 1 this year, benefitting over 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of general elections. The Union Cabinet has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners from January 1, 2024, representing an increase of 4 percentage points over the existing rate of 46 per cent of the basic pay/pension, to compensate against price rise, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said after the Cabinet meeting.
Three laws passed in Parliament could boost central revenues, reshape GST cess flows, shift MGNREGA costs to states and create new budget headroom ahead of the 2026-2027 Union Budget, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The best course for the government at this time would be to tighten the seat belt a little more, without compromising on its investments in creating better infrastructure and giving a push to privatisation, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Trade unions have decided to launch a phased, consistent struggle to press for the withdrawal of the labour codes and go on a countrywide general strike in February next year, a statement said on Tuesday. The date of the strike will be announced on 22nd December 2025 in the next meeting of the joint forum of central trade unions, a statement said.
'The high court notice could go some way in easing the vitiated civil-military relationship, and the trust deficit between civil servants and the military.'
There shall be two dates for grant of increment - January 1 and July 1 every year
'The Indian consumer is moving so quickly and they have so many options.'
After issuing notices to hotels across the country for allegedly underpaying goods and services tax (GST) on restaurant services, the revenue department has now widened its scrutiny by seeking information from online travel platforms.
Actor-politician Vijay held his first public meeting in Puducherry, criticising the central government for neglecting the union territory's demand for statehood and praising the local government's impartiality. He also targeted the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, suggesting they could learn from Puducherry.
The Centre on Wednesday increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 3 percentage points effective from July 1 this year, benefitting more than 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of the Diwali festival. The Union Cabinet has approved to increase Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners by three percentage points of the basic pay/pension ahead of Diwali, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the Cabinet meeting.
The total salary and pension bill of the central government, which will also include Railway employees, will go up from estimated Rs 4.33 lakh crore to Rs 5.35 lakh crore during 2016-17
Prabhu hoped that during this 3-4 years period, railways would be able to absorb the impact from their resources
'You've got to understand it is not easy to die by suicide.' 'People commit suicide only when they lose everything and find no other way to live.'
The 7th CPC places the Indian Police Service (and, almost in passing, the Indian Forest Service) on a level with the Indian Administrative Service, leaving the military out in the cold.
Opening up the corner office is fine, but will the government be able to attract talent without giving a market-rate salary?, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Banking system liquidity will experience transient frictional tightness ahead of the payment of arrears
The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea challenging the validity of a provision of the Income Tax Act that allows political parties to receive "anonymous" cash donations below Rs 2,000.
Participants are keenly awaiting the rollovers to the next series ahead of the expiry of June F&O.
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