New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) Weeks ahead of the Delhi assembly election, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the constitution of the eighth pay commission for revision of salaries, pensions and allowances of central government employees.
Delhi assembly election is scheduled on February 5, 2025.
Briefing media on Cabinet decisions, Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Chairman and members of the Commission would be appointed soon.
The Minister said that the VIIth Pay Commission began its work in 2016 and its term ends in 2026.
"Since 1947, seven Pay Commissions have been constituted, with the last one implemented in 2016. As the 7th Pay Commission's term concludes in 2026, initiating the process in 2025 ensures sufficient time to receive and review recommendations before its completion," Vaishnaw said.
Vaisnaw said that the Pay Commission would undertake massive consultation with state governments, PSUs and other stakeholders as most government departments and organisations follow the Pay Commission recommendations once they are accepted by the government.
The Minister termed the move to set up VIIIth Pay Commission as a "major, major decision."
The 7th Central Pay Commission had benefitted over one crore employees, including 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners of which 14 lakh employees and 18 lakh pensioners belonged to the defense forces.
The Union Cabinet today also approved the establishment of the Third Launch Pad (TLP) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota) in Andhra Pradesh with a projected cost of Rs 3,984.86 crore. The Third Launch Pad is targeted to be established within a period of 48 months.
"The Third Launch Pad project envisages the establishment of the launch infrastructure at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh for the Next Generation launch vehicles of ISRO and also to support as standby launch pad for the Second Launch Pad at Sriharikota. This will also enhance the launch capacity for future Indian human spaceflight missions," an official statement said.
The statement said that the Third Launch Pad is designed to have configuration that is as universal and adaptable as possible that can support not only NGLV but also the LVM3 vehicles with Semicryogenic stage as well as scaled up configurations of NGLV.
"It will be realized with maximum industry participation fully utilizing ISRO’s experience in establishing the earlier launch pads and maximally sharing the existing launch complex facilities," the statement said.
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