8th central pay commission: Who is IAS Pankaj Jain, Member Secretary of the 8th CPC panel with over 35 years in policy?

The 8th central pay commission (CPC) has set into motion discussions ahead of its recommendations for allowances, pay hikes, salary structure i.e. dearness allowance and fitment factor. This is part of the panel's updates to the compensation of central government employees and pensioners, including railways and defence staff.

Constituted every 10 years by the Centre and announced last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is expected to make big decisions this year. As part of this consultation process, the panel held meetings in Delhi in April and May, and has planned meetings with employee representatives in Telangana, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir in May and June.

The first visit will be from 18-19 May to Hyderabad (Telangana), later from 1-4 June to Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), followed by a visit to Ladakh UT on 8 June. It added that separate meetings in Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Delhi, and other cities and states and union territories will come “in due course” over the next months.

8th CPC: Who is Member-Secretary Pankaj Jain, IAS?

Pankaj Jain is a member of the Indian Administrative Service (Assam-Meghalaya Cadre) with long and varied experience in public administration at both the state government and Centre, according to his profile on the 8th CPC's official website.

At present, he is Member Secretary of the 8th CPC, with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. During his tenure, he also has extensive Board experience across banks, energy sector entities, financial institutions, insurance companies and regulatory and supervisory institutions, it stated.

Jain has been a member of Reserve Bank of India’s Expert Committee on Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). In the State Cadre, he has served in senior positions in various departments such as expenditure, information technology (IT), power and rural development.

In his career spanning over 35 years, he has held several important assignments, including Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG), as well as Additional and Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance (MoF), where he dealt with complex issues of policy design and implementation in the domains of oil, gas, biofuels, banking and finance, the website added.

Further, it noted that Jain has a strong academic background, being a Post-Graduate in Management, a professional qualification in Cost Accountancy, and a graduate in Commerce.

8th CPC members: Who else is on the panel?

The current panel is the eight such committee constituted by the Centre since Independence. It is chaired by Former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash
Desai and also includes Professor Pulak Ghosh, tenured Professor of Finance, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, as a Member of the Commission, besides Pankaj Jain as Member-Secretary.

How will the 8th Pay Commission make decisions?

To reach its consensus, the Pay Commissions gather views and inputs from labour representatives and groups, ministries, pension bodies, employee unions and other similar stakeholders. The collected data is then analysed to decide allowances, pension formula and salary structures for the relevant employee and retiree groups.

Notably, the 8th CPC last week extended its deadline for stakeholders to submit their memorandum of suggestions ahead of the panel's recommendations. In an official statement, it invited representatives of central government employees to make their submissions latest by 31 May 2026 — a month's extension. The process for had begun on 5 March 2026, with earlier deadline of 30 April.

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