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8th Pay Commission DA Merger: Preparations for the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission are in full swing. Meanwhile, the government has issued a significant statement on the issue of merging Dearness Allowance (DA) or Dearness Relief (DR) with basic pay.

8th Pay Commission News: Discussions regarding the 8th Pay Commission are intensifying. In particular, there are growing demands to integrate Dearness Allowance (DA) into basic pay. For the past few days, it was speculated that the government would merge DA and DR into basic pay instead of increasing them. The government has now clarified its stance on this matter. Contrary to the expectations of several unions, the government has rejected any proposal to merge the existing Dearness Allowance (DA) or Dearness Relief (DR) with basic pay.

Why was this demand being raised?

Actually, employee unions argued that the rate at which DA and DR would be increased was insufficient to control inflation in today's times, so they should be merged into the basic pay. This would increase the basic salary, and other allowances like HRA and TA would also be calculated accordingly. Overall, employees' salaries would increase.

What did the government say?

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on December 1, 2025, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that the government has no proposal to merge the existing DA into the basic pay. This response was given in response to a question posed by MP Anand Bhadoria, who asked that central government employees and pensioners are currently facing the highest inflation in 30 years, while DA and DR are not keeping pace with real-time retail inflation.

DA-DR was increased before Diwali

After a 3% increase in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) before Diwali this year, DA for employees and DR for pensioners currently amount to 55% of their basic salary or pension.

DA/DR is revised twice a year based on the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW), first in January and second in July. Employee federations have been demanding that DA be merged with basic pay to mitigate the impact of rising inflation. However, despite these demands, the government appears committed to the current structure of periodic adjustments rather than a one-time merger.