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8th Pay Commission News: Amid speculations over pension revisions in the 8th Pay Commission more concerns have emerged among employees and pensioners over the central government not mentioning the implementation date for the 8th CPC (8th Central Pay Commission) recommendations raising fears that the government might be planning to change the 10-year cycle associated with pay commissions. Will govt change the 10-year cycle? Central government employees and pensioners had assumed that akin to past central pay commissions the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission would take effect on January 1 2026 after the 7th CPC terms ends on December 31 2025. However the revised Terms of Reference (ToR) for the 8th CPC do not mention any specific date for its implementation raising concerns among over 50 lakh central employees and 69 lakh retirees. Notably while the recommendations typically take around two years to finalise previous pay panels have always been made effective retrospectively after the 10-year-cycle. What are employees demands? Meanwhile several employee bodies such as the All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) Confederation of Central Government Employees & Workers (CCGEW) and Bharat Pensioners’ Samaj (BPS) have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about these inconsistencies in the ToR for the 8th Pay Commission. In a letter to PM Modi BPS which represents central government pensioners has flagged several concerns and urged the government to make certain changes in the 8th CPC ToR. BPS has demanded that the 8th Pay Commission should be implemented from January 1 2026. Its has asked for pension revision and removal of the term ‘unfunded cost’ while claiming that the ToR lacks clarity on pension revision pension parity and pensioners’ rights. The pensioners body noted that the pension is not a bounty but a constitutional right and thus the term “unfunded cost” in the ToR is misleading and insulting to retirees. BPS has also sought the restoration of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) as well as a comprehensive review of NPS/UPS. It also urged the government to extend all retirement benefits to autonomous bodies and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS)  or rural postal workers and provide an immediate 20% interim relief  to pensioners. Further they demand that facilities like CGHS should be expanded and made available to autonomous bodies. AIDEF says 8th CPC ToR inimical to pensioners interests Notably All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) was the first to flag these alleged inconsistencies in the 8th Pay Commission ToR and had in a November 4 letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted that the ToR is inimical to the interests of pensioners  as it excludes them from various retirement benefits. “It is most unfortunate that 69 lakh central government pensioners and family pensioners who have given their sweat and blood to the country for more than three decades while in service are kept out of the purview of 8th CPC” the AIDEF wrote in the letter to Sitharaman. Why employees are concerned? The employees concerns come amid speculations about benefits for pensioners under the 8th Pay Commission as the ToR does not provide clarity on matters related to retirees such as pension revision pension parity or other pension-related benefits for the existing 69 lakh pensioners including family pensioners under the OPS Integrated Pension Scheme and National Pension System. Notably earlier in a major relief for pensioners the Union government clarified that the Finance Act 2025 will not revoke DA hikes and 8th Pay Commission benefits from retired central government employees. In a post on X the fact check unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said the viral social media claim about retirees being excluded from 8th Pay Commission and DA hike benefits was fake and no such policy changes have been made. When will Centre implement 8th Pay Commission? Earlier this month on November 3 Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet approved the terms of reference (ToR) of the 8th Pay Commission which will benefit 50 lakh central government employees and 69 lakh pensioners and will have implications on the emoluments of the staff of state governments. If we go by the implementation of previous pay commissions the government usually takes about 18 to 24 months to implement the recommendations of the commission. Thus its unlikely that 8th Pay Commission would be implemented before mid-2027 while reports suggest that the next CPC implementation might be pushed back to early 2028.