8th Pay Commission: Parliament To Face Heat on Dec 1 as Unions Threaten Protests - What Are The Major Demands?

Central government employees and pensioners will be glued to Parliament on December 1 when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to answer pointed questions on the controversial Terms of Reference (ToR) of the newly formed 8th Central Pay Commission and the long-pending demand for merging Dearness Allowance (DA) with basic pay, said a report by the Financial Express.Employee unions have turned the heat up, accusing the government of deliberately excluding nearly 69 lakh pensioners from the panel’s scope and failing to mention any implementation date in the ToR notified earlier this month. Several federations have already issued protest calls and threatened nationwide agitation if the ToR is not amended immediately.Key flashpoints the Finance Ministry

will have to address:

• Why the ToR appears to leave out a large section of pensioners
• Whether the government plans to merge the current 53%+ DA with basic pay (a practice followed before the 5th and 6th Pay Commissions when DA crossed 50%)
• Timeline for implementation of 8th CPC recommendations (the 7th CPC cycle ends 31 December 2025)
• Release of 18 months of frozen DA/DR arrears from the Covid period

One starred question already listed in the Lok Sabha, filed by MP Anand Bhadauria, directly seeks clarity on the constitution of the 8th CPC and immediate DA merger as relief.“DA merger is not a favour — it is a well-established precedent when DA crosses 50%. Real wages have been eroded for years,” said Shiv Gopal Mishra, Secretary (Staff Side), National Council-JCM, adding that unions will launch mass protests if the government continues to ignore these demands.Other major demands unions are pressing include:

• Scrapping NPS/UPS and restoring the Old Pension Scheme for all
• Higher fitment factor than the 2.57 used in the 7th CPC
• Release of pending DA arrears (Jan 2020–June 2021)
• Removal of the 5% cap on compassionate appointments
• Filling lakhs of vacancies instead of outsourcing

With the Winter Session starting Monday, the government is under pressure to defuse the growing unrest among nearly one crore employees and pensioners. Any evasive reply is likely to trigger demonstrations, strikes, and pen-down agitations across ministries and railways in the coming weeks.The 8th Pay Commission was approved on 16 November 2025, but the absence of an implementation date and perceived loopholes in the ToR have sparked the sharpest confrontation between the Centre and its workforce in years.All eyes are now on December 1. A clear, positive response could calm nerves; silence or rejection may light the fuse for the biggest employee agitation since 2008.