8th Pay Commission formation: Standing Committee of NC-JCM to meet on April 23; what happened in last meeting?

Amid no definitive update from the Central Government regarding the constitution of the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC), the Standing Committee of the National Council of Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) will have its next meeting on April 23, 2025.

A letter dated March 24, 2025, from the Deputy Secretary of JCM to the Standing Committee members and NC-JCM Staff Side regarding the meeting did not specify any agenda for the discussion.

Although various media reports have speculated recently that the final decision on the terms of the new pay panel and its members may be taken by the Union Cabinet in the current month, the scheduled meeting of the NC-JCM's Standing Committee on April 23 hints at a slight delay.

What happened in the last meeting?

The Staff Side and other members of the Standing Committee of NC-JCM last met on February 10, 2025.

The Staff Side said its suggestions for the Terms of Reference were "fully justified" since "it gives the flexibility to the 8th CPC to consider various issues pertaining to the Central Government employees and pensioners in common and the specific issues of the two major ministries viz. Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Defence."

The Staff Side also emphasized the need to determine minimum wages considering the "fact of the legal responsibility of the grown-up children to take care of their parents under The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act 2022, and hence the family units should be taken as five and not three units."

“Accordingly, and also considering todays life requirement and nutrition level in which many items have to be added, so that the 8th CPC can recommend 'Decent and Dignified Living Wage'”, they added.

In the meeting, the staff side requested to convene a meeting of the Standing Committee and also the NC-JCM before the 8th CPC so that "all pending issues can be discussed and resolved" which will reduce the burden of the new pay panel.

Chairing the meeting, the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) stated that after the meeting with the Staff Side there was "more clarity" about the Terms of Reference forwarded by them. She also said that more such meetings will be held in the future.

What to expect next on 8th CPC

The Standing Committee of the NC-JCM is yet to reach an agreement on the Terms of Reference for the 8th CPC. Once the terms are finalized by the Standing Committee, they are expected to be presented before the Union Cabinet for review, after which the final decision on the formation of the 8th CPC will be taken.

Meanwhile, recently in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that for the first time, her government has implemented full parity between pensioners of pre- post post-7th Central Pay Commission. She said all pensioners of the Central government who had retired before 01.01.2016 are now drawing a similar pension as employees who retired after 01.01.2016.