Cabinet approves Terms of Reference of 8th Central Pay Commission
Posted On: 28 OCT 2025 3:03PM by PIB Delhi
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the Terms of Reference of 8th Central Pay Commission.
The 8th Central Pay Commission will be a temporary body. The Commission will comprise of one Chairperson; One Member (Part Time) and one Member-Secretary. It will make its recommendations within 18 months of the date of its constitution. It may consider, if necessary, sending interim reports on any of the matters as and when the recommendations are finalized. While making the recommendations the Commission will keep in view the followings:
- The economic conditions in the country and the need for fiscal prudence;
- The need to ensure that adequate resources are available for developmental expenditure and welfare measures;
- The unfunded cost of non-contributory pension schemes;
- The likely impact of the recommendations on the finances of the State Governments which usually adopt the recommendations with some modifications;
- The prevailing emolument structure, benefits and working conditions available to employees of Central Public Sector Undertakings and private sector.
Composition of the 8th Central Pay Commission:
| S. No. | Name & Designation | Position in the Commission |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smt. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India | Chairperson |
| 2 | Professor Pulak Ghosh, Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore | Member (Part Time) |
| 3 | Shri Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas | Member-Secretary |
Detailed Profiles of Commission Members:
1. Smt. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai - Chairperson
Birth & Education: Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was born on 30th October, 1949 in Mumbai. She completed her Bachelor of Arts from the prestigious Elphinstone College in 1970 and obtained her LL.B from the Government Law College, Bombay in 1973. Her father was the eminent criminal lawyer S.G. Samant, which profoundly influenced her legal career.
Legal Career Development: Justice Desai joined the legal profession on 30th July, 1973. She worked as a junior in the chambers of the late Justice S.C. Pratap before his elevation to the bench, where she gained valuable experience in civil and criminal matters. She also practiced alongside her father, who was a renowned criminal law expert.
Government Service (1979-1996): Her transition to public service began in 1979 when she was appointed as a Government Pleader on the Appellate Side of the Bombay High Court. In 1986, she was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor for preventive detention matters for the Bombay High Court. By 1st November, 1995, she was elevated to the position of Chief Government Pleader, Appellate Side of the Bombay High Court.
Judicial Appointments: Justice Desai was elevated to the Bench of the Bombay High Court on 15th April, 1996. After serving with distinction on the High Court, she was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 13th September, 2011, becoming the fifth woman to serve as an Indian Supreme Court judge. She retired from the Supreme Court on 29th October, 2014.
Post-Retirement Roles: Following her retirement from the Supreme Court, Justice Desai held several prestigious positions:
- Appellate Tribunal for Electricity: Chairperson from 1st December, 2014 to 30th November, 2017
- Advance Ruling Authority [Income Tax]: Chairperson from 2nd July, 2018 to 29th October, 2019
- Delimitation Commission of India: Chairperson from 6th March, 2020 to 5th May, 2022, where she oversaw the delimitation of constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir
- Lokpal Search Committee: Chairperson of the Search Committee to recommend names for Lokpal Chairperson and Members
- Press Council of India: Chairperson since 17th June, 2022
Judicial Legacy: Justice Desai has delivered several landmark judicial pronouncements. In May 2012, she ordered the government to end the Haj subsidy by 2022. In a historic September 2013 judgment, she was part of a three-judge bench that established the right to register a "none of the above" vote in elections, a decision that the Election Commission implemented immediately.
References: Supreme Court of India - Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai | Press Council of India Bio-data | Wikipedia - Ranjana Desai
2. Professor Pulak Ghosh - Member (Part Time)
Current Position: Professor Pulak Ghosh is a tenured Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), with joint appointments in the Department of Finance, Decision Sciences, and Public Policy. He holds the position of Chair Professor of Excellence at IIMB and is recognized globally as a leading "Tech Economist/Statistician" with expertise in the intersection of technology, data science, finance, and public policy.
Academic Background & Career: Professor Ghosh completed his schooling from Ballygunge Government High School, Calcutta. He obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Calcutta and his PhD from Oakland University, Michigan, USA. Before joining IIMB, he held tenured faculty positions at Georgia State University and Emory University. He also served as Director of Clinically Advanced Statistical Solutions at Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Research Focus & Publications: His research encompasses Fintech, Household Finance, Development Finance, and Artificial Intelligence, with a strong emphasis on data-driven approaches and policy implications for emerging markets, particularly India. He has published extensively in internationally reputed journals including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Science Advances, Journal of the American Statistical Association, and Biometrika. His work has been cited by the World Bank, various Government of India departments, NITI Aayog, the Reserve Bank of India, and in multiple industry reports.
Government & Policy Roles: Professor Ghosh's contributions to policymaking have been significant:
- Economic Advisory Council: Currently serving as a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)
- NITI Aayog: Served as Senior Fellow at NITI Aayog
- National Statistics Commission: Member of the National Statistics Commission
- Reserve Bank of India: Advisory member, RBI Academy
- National Stock Exchange: Member of IT Committee
- SEBI: Chairman of SEBI Committee on AI Trading
- United Nations: Founding advisory board member of UN Global Pulse, the UN's flagship big data initiative
- International Monetary Fund: Advisor to IMF's Big Data Group
- Karnataka Knowledge Commission: Member; Chaired the committee on "Big Data for Governance" for the Karnataka Government
Notable Policy Contributions:
- Instrumental in the 2018 employment report using EPFO data; following his report, EPFO started publishing monthly payroll data
- Key role in shaping the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme (PMKSN) in 2019
- Member of the High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Trade, which recommended the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for electronics sector—a policy shift that helped India emerge as the world's third-largest mobile phone exporter by 2024
Academic Recognition: Professor Ghosh serves on the editorial boards of several top journals including the Journal of the American Statistical Association, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (Series A), and Biometrics. He is a Fellow of the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER), an Academic Fellow of Luohan Academy, and Programme Co-Director for "Tech, Digital Markets and AI" at ABFER.
Awards & Recognition: His contributions have been recognized through several prestigious awards:
- Outstanding Paper Award in Financial Institutions (WRDS) at the Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting
- Best FinTech Paper Award at the Western Finance Association
- Distinguished Alumni Award from Oakland University, USA
- Prof. C.R. Rao National Award in Statistics
- Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis Memorial Award in Econometrics
- Young Scientist Award by International Indian Statistical Association
References: IIMB - Professor Pulak Ghosh | Professor Pulak Ghosh - About | EAC-PM - Professor Pulak Ghosh | Google Scholar Profile
3. Shri Pankaj Jain - Member-Secretary
Current Position: Shri Pankaj Jain serves as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, one of the most important ministries handling India's critical energy sector portfolio.
Educational Background: Shri Jain holds a Master of Business Administration degree and is a qualified Cost Accountant, combining professional management education with specialized financial expertise.
Experience & Expertise: Shri Jain brings wide-ranging and extensive experience in governance as well as design and execution of policy across the National and State Governments. His professional domains of expertise span:
- Oil and Natural Gas
- Financial Services (Banking and Institutional Finance)
- Industries
- Power Sector
- Information Technology
- Livelihoods and Employment
- MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) Promotion
Corporate Board Experience: Shri Jain has extensive board-level experience across various sectors:
- Petroleum and Natural Gas Sector: Chairman/Director on boards of companies in the oil and gas industry
- Banking Sector: Director on bank boards
- Development Finance Institutions: Board member in DFIs
- Insurance Sector: Director in insurance companies
- Non-Banking Finance Companies: Board representation in NBFCs
- Regulatory/Supervisory Bodies: Member of regulatory and supervisory boards
Government Administration: Shri Jain's career demonstrates a strong track record in multi-sector policy formulation and implementation at both national and state government levels, making him well-suited to contribute to critical decisions regarding central government employee compensation and benefits.
References: Energy Intelligence Forum - Shri Pankaj Jain | MUDRA - Board Members | Consulate General of India Houston - Energy
Background:
The Central Pay Commissions are periodically constituted to go into various issues of emoluments structure, retirement benefits and other service conditions of Central Government employees and to make recommendations on the changes required thereon. Usually, the recommendations of the pay commissions are implemented after a gap of every ten years. Going by this trend, the effect of the 8th Central Pay Commission recommendations would normally be expected from 01.01.2026.
The Government had announced formation of the 8th Central Pay Commission in January, 2025 to examine and recommend changes in the Salaries and other benefits of Central Government employees.
Note: The expertise and diverse backgrounds of the three commission members—Justice Desai's judicial and administrative experience, Professor Ghosh's technology-driven policy insights, and Shri Jain's governance expertise—position the 8th Central Pay Commission to make comprehensive and forward-looking recommendations that balance fiscal responsibility with employee welfare.
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