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 initiated discussions ahead of its recommendations on allowances, wage increments, salary structure, i.e., severance pay allowance and adjustment factor. This is part of the panel’s updates on compensation for central government employees and pensioners, including railways and defense personnel.
The Center, which is formed every 10 years and announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, is expected to make major decisions this year. As part of this consultation process, the panel held meetings in Delhi in April and May and scheduled meetings with employee representatives in Telangana, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir in May and June.
The first visit will be to Hyderabad (Telangana) from 18-19 May, then to Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) from 1-4 June, followed by a visit to Ladakh UT on 8 June. Separate meetings in Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Delhi and other cities, states and union territories will be held “in due course” in the coming months, he added.
8. CPC: Who is IAS Member-Secretary Pankaj Jain?
Pankaj Jain, according to his profile on the official website of the 8th CPC, is a member of the Indian Administrative Service (Assam-Meghalaya Cadre) and has long and varied experience in public administration, both in the state government and at the Centre.
Currently, he is the Member Secretary of the 8th CPC with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. It was stated that he had extensive Board of Directors experience in banks, energy sector organizations, financial institutions, insurance companies and regulatory and supervisory institutions during his tenure.
Jain is a member of the Reserve Bank of India’s Expert Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He has held senior positions within the State Staff in various departments such as expenditure, information technology (IT), energy and rural development.
The website added that in his career spanning over 35 years, he has held many key positions, including Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG), as well as Additional and Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance (MoF), where he dealt with complex issues of policy design and implementation in oil, gas, biofuels, banking and finance.
It was also stated that Jain has a strong academic background, holds a Master’s degree in Management, has a professional qualification in Cost Accounting and has a degree in Commerce.
8. CPC members: Who else is on the panel?
The current panel is eight such committees constituted by the Center since Independence. It is chaired by Former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and also includes Professor Pulak Ghosh, Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, tenured Professor of Finance, as Member-Secretary along with Pankaj Jain as Member-Secretary.
8. What decisions will the Salary Commission make?
Pay Commissions gather views and input from worker representatives and groups, ministries, pension agencies, trade unions and other similar stakeholders to reach consensus. The data collected is then analyzed to decide on allowances, pension formula and salary structures for relevant groups of employees and retirees.
Notably, last week the 8th CPC extended the deadline for stakeholders to submit recommendation notes ahead of panel recommendations. In an official statement, it invited representatives of central government employees to submit their applications latest by May 31, 2026 (one month extension). The process started on March 5, 2026, and the deadline was April 30.
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