Pay commission: Salary, allowances, benefits — Check West Bengal 7th pay commission's full list of terms of reference

The West Bengal government on 22 July officially constituted the state's 7th central pay commission (CPC), a day after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told reporters the state aims to implementing the 7th state CPC's recommendations in the current fiscal (FY 2026-27).

Notably, the state approved the constitution of this panel in May, after the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party-run (BJP) government assumed power, fulfilling a major poll promise.

Adhikari also assured state government employees that pending DA would be paid in due course, adding that the proposed pay revision would be accompanied by a restructuring of the salary framework to bring state employees' emoluments closer to those of their Central counterparts.

West Bengal 7th pay commission: What is the timeline?

According to a resolution from the state's finance department, the four-member panel will together review allowances (including dearness allowance or DA), salaries (pay hike, etc.) and service conditions for state government employees and pensioners.

“The Commission will submit their recommendations as expeditiously as practicable but preferably within a period of 6 (six) months from the date of publication of this Resolution or such extended time as the State Government may consider necessary,” it added.

7th state CPC Terms of Reference — Full list

The resolution outlined the panel's terms of reference (ToR) as follows:

• The headquarters of the Commission shall be at Kolkata, but it may hold its sittings elsewhere in the state or in the national capital, if it deems necessary.

• It will examine and recommend changes desirable and feasible in emoluments including pay, allowances and other benefits, in cash or kind, having regard to rationalisation, contemporary requirements and the specialised needs.
• This will be for the state's various departments, institutions, statutory, non-statutory bodies, corporations under administrative control of the West Bengal state government.
• It will also examine the conditions of service of state employees and suggest an emolument structure conducive to attract and retain talent in Government service.
• The recommendations should lead to promoting efficiency, accountability and responsibility in the work culture and ensure a work-life balance.
• The panel is also expected to review DA and recommend an appropriate formulation for the proposed pay structure.

• Review existing special allowances and other allowances, concessions including Travelling Allowance (TA).
• Review pay of state employees and recommend their rationalisation keeping in view the multiplicity of allowances.
• Recommend the mode of initial pay fixation in the proposed pay structure for existing employees and the mode of revision of pension for existing pensioners.
• Examine the existing promotion policies and pension and allied benefits under existing death-cum-retirement benefit schemes, including medical benefits, if any.
• The panel is also likely to take the Centre's 8th CPC recommendations under consideration, the order added.

Who are the panel members?

The government has appointed Atanu Chakraborty as Chairperson of the panel. He is a former Union economic affairs secretary and a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) 1985-batch.

Chakraborty served as secretary in the Ministry of Finance from 2019 to 2020 and subsequently officiated as the part-time chairman of a private bank until his resignation in March 2026.

The three other members include Partha Mukhopadhyay, senior fellow at Centre for Policy Research, Partha Pratim Pal, a professor of economics at IIM Calcutta, and state finance secretary Devi Prasad Karanam.

Committed to narrow DA gap with Centre: Adhikari

CM Adhikari on 21 July told reporters that the state would constitute its 7th CPC and aims to implement its recommendations by March 2027. He added that the government is committed to narrowing DA gap with the Centre, but without abrupt revisions.

“We will gradually bridge the gap between the Centre and the state in DA. Some of you may have expected that we would announce a 42% DA in one go. There were also reports on social media that we would announce a 10% hike. We did neither. We calculated it carefully and will bridge the difference gradually,” Adhikari said. Bengal had in June hiked DA by 20 percentage-point in the state budget.