Central government employees and pensioners are buzzing about the 8th Pay Commission. Unions are pushing for a fitment factor between 3.61 and 4.00, a big jump from the 7th Pay Commission's 2.57.
The 8th Central Pay Commission is creating a lot of buzz among central government employees and pensioners. The 7th Pay Commission had set a fitment factor of 2.57. This increased the minimum basic salary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000.
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Employee unions demand for 8th Pay Commission
Now, for the 8th Pay Commission, employee unions are demanding a fitment factor between 3.61 and 4.00. These numbers might look small on paper, but they will create a difference of thousands of rupees in employees' monthly salaries.
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What is fitment factor and why is it important
The fitment factor is the multiplier used to calculate the new salary under a new pay commission. It is multiplied with an employee's current basic pay. This factor not only includes the effect of Dearness Allowance (DA) but also ensures a real increase in employees' income. The same factor is also used to determine the basic pension for pensioners.
Different employee and pensioner unions have submitted their demands and calculations to the 8th Pay Commission. The Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS) is demanding the highest fitment factor of 4.00. Under this proposal, they want the minimum basic salary to be set at Rs 72,000.
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NCJCM Staff Side
BPMS stated that 1.58 of their proposed factor is just to offset the Dearness Allowance (DA) impact, while the rest is based on the growth in national per capita income. The National Council of JCM (Staff Side) and Bharat Pensioners Samaj (BPS) have proposed a fitment factor of 3.833, for a minimum salary of Rs 69,000.
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Minimum Salary
With their proposed factor, the minimum salary would be Rs 69,000. The NCJCM has based this calculation on the norms of the 15th ILC (Indian Labour Conference). These norms consider the needs of a family of five, including food, clothing, housing, education, marriage, and technology.
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Fitment factor proposal
The Ministerial Staff Association (MSA) has proposed a fitment factor of 3.61. This would set the minimum basic salary at Rs 65,000 for Level 1 employees.
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Pay Matrix: What will be the benefits as per level?
The different fitment factors create significant differences in the pay matrix. For Level 1, the salary would be Rs 64,980 under MSA's proposal (3.61), Rs 69,000 under NCJCM's (3.833), and Rs 72,000 under BPMS's (4.00). For Level 6, the NCJCM proposal would raise the basic pay to Rs 1,35,700. For the merged Levels 9 and 10, it would reach Rs 2,15,100 under the NCJCM's plan.
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Can the government bear this financial burden?
The NCJCM argues that since 2014-15, the country's GDP has grown by a massive 165.23% and total tax revenue has increased by 205.41%. Therefore, they believe the government can easily handle the financial impact of this salary hike. The Railway Senior Citizens Welfare Society (RSCWS) also stressed that without a sufficient increase in basic pay, the social security of retired employees is being affected.
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Fitment factor selected by the Eighth Pay Commission
The fitment factor chosen by the 8th Pay Commission will be extremely important for over 50 lakh central government employees and lakhs of pensioners. It will not only decide the monthly take-home salary but also have a long-term impact on pension, gratuity limits, and the amount of money received on commutation.
