8th pay commission
Teachers and employee organizations have put forward big demands before the government regarding the 8th Pay Commission. The most important among these demands is the proposal to increase the basic salary of entry level teachers to Rs 1.34 lakh. Along with this, demands for increasing fitment factor, adding dearness allowance to basic and huge increase in allowances are also included. If these proposals are accepted, then there may be a big change in the salary and retirement benefits of lakhs of employees and teachers. Teachers organizations and employee unions across the country have presented a blueprint of comprehensive demands to the government regarding the 8th Pay Commission. The objective of these demands is not only to increase the salary but also to improve the standard of living and retirement security of the employees.
The most prominent demand is to increase the basic salary of entry level teachers (Level-6) to Rs 1,34,500. At the same time, it has been proposed to increase the minimum salary for Level-1 employees from Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000. This is considered to be a big change compared to the current salary structure. For increase in salary, there has been a demand to increase the fitment factor from 2.57 to between 2.62 to 3.83. Fitment factor is the basis of salary determination, and its increase can cause a big jump in the total salary. Apart from this, it has also been suggested to increase the annual increment from 3% to 6-7%.
demand on dearness allowance
A demand has also been made by the teachers on dearness allowance. An important proposal has also come forward regarding Dearness Allowance (DA). Employee organizations say that as soon as DA reaches 50%, it should be merged into the basic salary. This will not only increase the salary, but will also provide more pension and other retirement benefits. The demand for increase in allowances has also been raised prominently. It is proposed to increase House Rent Allowance (HRA) to 12%, 24% and 36%. Transport allowance has been said to be 12-15% of basic or minimum Rs 9,000. It has been suggested to increase the children’s education allowance from Rs 2,800 to Rs 7,000 per month.
This demand regarding bonus and insurance
Keeping in view the digital era, a monthly digital allowance of Rs 2,000 has been demanded. Along with this, changes have also been proposed in the holidays, which include 14 casual leaves, 30 earned leaves and 20 medical leaves. A demand has also been made for leave encashment of 400 days at the time of retirement. Employee organizations have talked about increasing the minimum bonus to Rs 27,640 and increasing the group insurance cover to Rs 2 crore. Besides, a proposal has also been made to provide 100% cashless medical facility.
There has also been a demand for improvements regarding promotion and career growth. There is a suggestion to give promotion every 6 years and reduce the period from TGT to PGT to 6-7 years. Apart from this, demand has also been raised to increase the gratuity limit to Rs 50 lakh and the retirement age to 65 years. The most important demand is to re-implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Employee organizations say that with the implementation of OPS instead of NPS, employees will get permanent and secure income after retirement.
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