New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved setting up the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and allowances of 65 lakh pensioners.

Following is the timeline of the previous seven pay commissions.

* 1st Pay Commission (May 1946 - May 1947) Chairman: Srinivasa Varadacharia Focused on rationalizing the pay structure after India’s independence Introduced the concept of the “living wage" Minimum salary: Rs 55/month; maximum salary: Rs 2,000/month Beneficiaries: Around 1.5 million employees * 2nd Pay Commission (August 1957 - August 1959) Chairman: Jaganath Das Focused on balancing the economy and living cost Recommended the minimum wage of Rs 80/month Introduced the 'socialistic pattern of society' Beneficiaries: Approximately 2.5 million employees * 3rd Pay Commission (April 1970 - March 1973) Chairman: Raghubir Dayal Recommended minimum pay of Rs 185/month Emphasized salary parity between public and private sectors Addressed inequalities in the pay structure Beneficiaries: About 3 million employees * 4th Pay Commission (September 1983 - December 1986) Chairman: P.N. Singhal Recommended a minimum salary of Rs 750/month.

Focused on reducing disparities in salaries across rank.

Introduced a performance-linked pay structure Beneficiaries: Over 3.5 million employees * 5th Pay Commission (April 1994 - January 1997) Chairman: Justice S. Ratnavel Pandian Recommended a minimum pay of Rs 2,550/month Suggested reducing the number of pay scale Focused on modernizing government office Beneficiaries: Around 4 million employees * 6th Pay Commission (October 2006 - March 2008) Chairman: Justice B.N. Srikrishna Introduced Pay Bands and Grade Pay Minimum salary: ₹7,000/month; maximum salary: Rs 80,000/month Emphasized performance-related incentive Beneficiaries: Nearly 6 million employees * 7th Pay Commission (February 2014 - November 2016) Chairman: Justice A K Mathur Minimum pay raised to Rs 18,000/month; maximum pay Rs 2,50,000/month Recommended a new pay matrix instead of grade pay system Focused on allowances and work-life balance Beneficiaries: Over 10 million (including pensioners) * 8th Pay Commission announced on 16th January 2025.

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Pay Commission: Eighth commission announced to revise central government salaries and pensions, continuing structural pay reforms. Prime Minister approved the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries of central government employees and allowances of pensioners, following a sequence of prior commissions that progressively reformed pay structures-introducing living-wage concepts, parity objectives, rationalisation of pay scales, performance-linked elements, Pay Bands with Grade Pay, and later a consolidated Pay Matrix-each targeting expanded beneficiary cohorts and reforms in allowances and work-life balance.