Assam Government Constitutes 8th Pay Commission

The Assam government has formally constituted the 8th Assam Pay Commission which will be charged with the responsibility of conducting thorough review of pay structure, allowances and service terms of the employees of the state government.

The decision, announced through a resolution issued by the Finance (Pay Research Unit) Department on February 23, 2026, marks the first major pay review since the implementation of the 7th Assam Pay and Productivity Pay Commission recommendations in April 2016.

Reform-Oriented Approach

Contrary to the past practices where the primary focus was on salary revision, the newly constituted commission has been mandated to adopt a wide-ranged reform based approach. The government has emphasisied on a pay revision along with fiscal sustainability, administrative efficiency, digital transformation, and manpower rationalisation.

The resolution states that along with evaluating pay scales and allowances, the review will also determine structural changes in human resource management, adoption of technology and result-based management.

Commission Make-Up

The 8th Pay Commission will be headed by retired IAS officer Subhas Das as Chairman. The members will be senior-most Secretaries representing key departments such as Personnel, Administrative Reforms, Finance and Judicial. A special invitee has been incorporated in the form of Gauhati University Professor Ratul Mahanta, while the Secretary of the Finance (PRU) Department will function as Member Secretary.

The Commission will be headquartered in Guwahati and has been asked to submit its report preferably within 18 months.

Key Areas of Review

The Terms of Reference indicate that the Commission will:

Review changes in remuneration, allowances and service terms without being fiscally loose.

Carry out a zero-based manpower audit to find redundant or duplicating post.

Suggest rationalisation of workload and reorganisation of cadres according to the adoption of technology.

Reconsider the age of retirement, the pension scheme, dearness allowance amongst other post-retirement benefits.

Recommend a new structure of compensation that is designed to attract talent and encourage accountability.

Suggest performance based bonus with measurable key performance indicators.

Bring about suggestions on complete digitisation of human resource systems and linkage with financial management systems.

Nonetheless, the All India Services officers, employees receiving UGC or AICTE pay scales in designated institutions, and judicial officers subjected to different pay scales have not been subject to its jurisdiction.

Fiscal Responsibility Stressed

The government has made it clear that any recommendations should be in line with the Assam Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005. The Commission has been instructed to give specific fiscal impact projections and indicate options of phased implementation.

Further, it will look into the principles of remuneration that apply to the contractual and scheme-based employees without establishing automatic consistency with the regular government cadres.

Focus on Digital Governance

The focus on the digital transformation is a major characteristic of the new Commission mandate. The panel will consider the available Human Resource Management Systems and propose their integration with the treasury and financial management systems, as well as the real-time tracking of leaves, promotions, payroll and pension payments.

Performance-linked incentives, if introduced, are expected to be linked to verifiable digital metrics and annual fiscal capacity.

Gazette Notification Issued

The Governor has directed the publishing of the resolution in the Assam Gazette. Copies have been sent to all the departments of state government, district commissioners and other relevant authorities to take necessary action.

The state government has also embarked on a comprehensive assessment of the public sector compensation through the establishment of the 8th Pay Commission, which according to the government, should be aimed at harmonizing the welfare of the employees with the financial constraints and administrative reform.

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