8th pay commission (8th Pay Commission) Now the discussions have started formally and the employees have started putting forward their demands strongly.
In the first meeting held on April 28, employee organizations put forward many important demands related to salary, pension and allowances, which will impact about 45 lakh central employees and 69 lakh pensioners of the country. The biggest demand is for a huge increase in the minimum wage. At present the basic salary is ₹18,000, which has been demanded to be increased to ₹69,000. For this, the employees have proposed a fitment factor of 3.83, which will be applicable on both salary and pension.
Employees say that the current salary is not adequate in view of inflation and rising cost of living. Apart from this, he has also demanded to increase the annual increment from 3% to 6%, so that the income of the employees can increase better over time. Also, it has been said that at least 5 promotions will be given in 30 years of service. There has also been a demand to provide benefits like additional increment and assured progression where there is delay in promotion.
Employees have also suggested major changes regarding allowances. He has demanded to increase the allowances like house rent, education and risk allowance by three times and link them with Dearness Allowance (DA). Apart from this, demands like interest-free loan, new leave policies and facility of leave encashment up to 600 days are also included.
The employees’ stand is clear on the pension issue also. He has raised the demand for re-implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) by abolishing the National Pension System (NPS) and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). Many suggestions have also been made for pensioners, such as implementing a system like OROP (One Rank, One Pension) for civil employees, regular revision of pension and restoration of commuted pension after 11 years.
Employee organizations have also said that the Commission should not be limited to Delhi only, but should go to different areas across the country and understand the actual situation of the employees. At present these talks are in the initial stages and many more meetings will take place in the coming months. It will take time for the final recommendations, but it is certain that this time the expectations of the employees are very high.