8th Pay Commission: What is the difference between the minimum and maximum salary of central employees? Know the complete history from 1st to 7th Pay Commission

Lakhs of serving employees and pensioners of the Central Government are eagerly waiting for the official formation of the 8th Pay Commission and its recommendations. Meanwhile, debates and discussions have intensified in employee unions and corridors regarding the difference between minimum and maximum basic pay.

This difference is explained in the technical language of government pay commissions. Compression Ratio It is said. This ratio directly shows how much difference there is in the basic salary of the lowest level employee of the government and the top most official (like Cabinet Secretary).

Under the 7th Pay Commission framework currently in place, the minimum basic pay of a central employee is ₹18,000 per month, while the maximum basic pay at the top level is fixed at ₹2,50,000 (Rs 2.5 lakh) per month. Thus, at present this pay ratio 1:13.9 Is of. The employee organizations clearly argue that this gap is huge socially and economically, which should be reduced at any cost in the upcoming pay commission.

The most dreadful difference in history was in the second pay commission.

The first pay commission was implemented in India in the year 1947 at the time of independence. But the highest pay inequality and discrepancy in Indian history was recorded during the Second Pay Commission (1957) period. At that time the minimum basic pay at the lower level was only ₹80, while the maximum basic pay of top officials was fixed at ₹3,000 per month. Due to this the compression ratio between the two 1:37.5 It had reached a record level of Rs., which is considered to be the largest gap till date in Indian administrative history.

In view of all-round protest after this huge disparity, the government took steps towards bridging this wage gap. The result was that in the Third Pay Commission (1973), this ratio reduced due to the minimum salary being fixed at ₹ 196 and maximum salary at ₹ 3,500. 1:17.9 Was left.

The most balanced phase came in the fourth and fifth pay commission.

In 1986, when the Fourth Pay Commission was implemented in the country, a huge improvement in pay discrepancies was seen. In this, the minimum basic salary was fixed at ₹ 750 and the maximum salary was ₹ 8,000, due to which this ratio was reduced for the first time to just Rs. 1:10.7 Remained.

After this, this inequality was further reduced in the Fifth Pay Commission in 1996. At that time, the minimum basic salary was fixed at ₹ 2,550 and the maximum salary was ₹ 26,000 per month, due to which the compression ratio dropped to the lowest level in its history i.e. 1:10.2 But he had arrived. This is considered to be the most balanced period ever in terms of Indian salary structure and closest to socialism.

Inequality started increasing again in the sixth and seventh pay commission

After the balanced phase of the Fifth Pay Commission, the gap once again started widening in the Sixth and Seventh Pay Commissions:

• Sixth Pay Commission (2006): In this commission, the minimum basic salary was increased to ₹7,000 and the maximum salary was increased to ₹80,000. Due to this the salary ratio increased again from 1:10.2. 1:11.4 But reached.

• Seventh Pay Commission (2016): In this, the minimum basic salary of the employees was fixed at ₹ 18,000 and maximum at ₹ 2.50 lakh, due to which this compression ratio increased further and directly. 1:13.9 Reached the level of, which is applicable even at present.

Complete chart of ‘Compression Ratio’ from 1st to 7th Pay Commission:

What do employees expect from the 8th Pay Commission? ‘1:8’ formula

Various central employee organizations and the Federation of National Postal Organizations (FNPO) have placed a very strong and concrete demand before the government regarding the upcoming 8th Pay Commission. Employees’ organizations say that this time the ratio of minimum and maximum wages will be reduced directly. 1:8 Should be brought within the scope of.

They argue that in view of rising inflation and cost of living, lower level employees (Group-C and D) need to be made more financially strong. If the ratio is increased to 1:8, there will be a huge and historic jump in the minimum basic salary.

Economic and administrative experts also believe that if the government considers this demand of the employees positively, then the upcoming 8th Pay Commission will not be limited to just a routine salary hike, but can prove to be a very revolutionary and big step towards reducing the income inequality among the government employees in the country. This is the reason that in the coming times, the eyes of more than 1 crore employees and pensioners of the country will be focused on the formation of the commission and its every recommendation.