The Central Government may soon announce the 8th Pay Commission. It will decide the salary on the basis of fitment factor, which will benefit more than 1 crore employees. The new minimum basic salary may range from ₹ 34,560 to ₹ 37,440.
New Delhi: Central government employees are eagerly waiting for the 8th Central Pay Commission and the official announcement related to it is expected to be released soon. Although the Center had given in-principle approval to the commission in January 2025, but now the government has said that the formation of the commission can be announced soon. At present, talks are going on with the state governments. Recently, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in the Rajya Sabha that the official announcement of the 8th Pay Commission will be made at the right time. He also said that the chairman and members of the commission will be appointed only after the announcement.
Role of fitment factor in determining salary
Fitment Factor is a very important parameter, which is used to decide the salary and pension of central government employees and pensioners. The Central Government may consider adopting Dr. Wallace Ackroyd’s Ackroyd Formula to determine the right salary based on the minimum cost of living. This formula takes into account the nutritional needs of an average employee, which includes expenses for essentials such as food, clothing and housing.
How is fitment factor calculated?
Presently the Dearness Allowance (DA) is 58 percent. It is expected that with the arrival of the 8th Pay Commission, DA will reach 60 percent. If 60 percent DA is taken into account, the basic fitment factor will be 1.60. This can be increased by an additional 10 to 30 percent. For example, if there is a 20 percent increase, the fitment factor will be 1.92. At the same time, with an increase of 30 percent it will become 2.08. The new salary will be calculated by the formula ‘Revised Salary = Basic Salary × Fitment Factor’.
How much will be the increase in the new salary after the 8th pay scale?
At present, under the 7th Pay Commission, the minimum basic salary of central employees is ₹ 18,000 and the minimum basic pension of pensioners is ₹ 9,000. Apart from this, he gets 58 percent DA/DR. When 8th Pay Commission comes into effect, DA/DR will be reduced to zero. If the fitment factor is 1.92, the new minimum basic salary of employees will be ₹34,560 and the minimum basic pension of pensioners will be ₹17,280.
If the fitment factor is 2.08, the new minimum basic salary of employees will be ₹37,440 and the minimum basic pension of pensioners will be ₹18,720. More than one crore central employees and pensioners are eagerly waiting for the announcement of the 8th Pay Commission, as this will decide the increase in their salary/pension.