New Delhi, June 29 -- The 8th pay commission has set meetings next month with employee representative groups, unions and stakeholders to gather data before making its recommendations on allowances and salary hikes for central government employees and pensioners, including railways and defence staff.

Constituted every 10 years, the current 8th CPC is likely to announce its decisions next year, with around 1 crore beneficiaries - including around 50 lakh employees and about 65 lakh pensioners - set to see hike in dearness allowance (DA), dearness relief (DR) and fitment factor.

Fitment factor is a mathematical multiplier used by the pay commissions to convert an employee's pre-revised basic salary (or retirees' pension payout) into the ne...