As the time for wage revision for central employees and pensioners approaches, employee unions have intensified pressure on the central government regarding their pending demands. Historically, the central government has implemented the recommendations of a new pay commission every 10 years. The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission came into effect from January 1, 2016, according to which the time limit of the 8th Pay Commission is proposed to be from January 1, 2026.
Major employee organizations of the country, including All India Defense Employees Federation (AIDEF), Railway Employees Organization (AIRF) and National Council of Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), have jointly submitted a memorandum to the government and drafted 5-point demands, in which retirement security and salary hike are at the forefront.
Keeping in mind the current economic conditions, inflation rate and basic needs, the employee organizations have placed these five major demands before the government:
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1. Complete restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS):
The most primary and non-compromising demand of the employees is the re-implementation of the ‘Old Pension Scheme’ (OPS) without any conditions. Organizations say that the National Pension System (NPS) or the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) does not provide the same guarantee of social and economic security to employees after retirement that the old system provided with 50% fixed pension, DA revision and zero employee contribution.
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2. Increasing the fitment factor to 3.68 times:
A fitment factor of 2.57 was implemented in the 7th Pay Commission, increasing the minimum basic pay from ₹7,000 to ₹18,000. For the 8th Pay Commission, the unions demand that the fitment factor be reduced to a minimum. 3.0 to 3.68 times Let’s do. If the government accepts the 3.68 fitment factor, the minimum basic pay of employees will directly increase from ₹18,000 to ₹34,560 per month Will reach beyond.
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3. One-time payment of 18 months’ frozen DA/DR arrears:
During the Corona pandemic, the Central Government had stopped the Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) of central employees and pensioners for 18 months from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. The employee unions demand that the government should now release the frozen DA Arrears in lump sum along with interest, because the employees were on the front lines during the pandemic.
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4. Reduction of additional pension and commutation period for pensioners:
At present, central pensioners are given 20% additional pension on completing the age of 80 years. Employee organizations demand that this introduction of additional pension should be done keeping in mind the life expectancy and health expenses. In a phased manner from the age of 65, 70 and 75 (like 5%, 10%, 15%) should be introduced. Besides, there is also a demand to reduce the period of pension commutation (commutation recovery) from 15 years to 12 years.
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5. Expansion of CGHS and cashless medical facilities:
A demand has been raised to remove the shortcomings in health services provided under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). The employees want cashless treatment facilities to be made mandatory in all major private hospitals in the country, CGHS package rates to be revised in line with market rates and more wellness centers to be opened in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities so that elderly pensioners living in their home districts after retirement do not have to wander for treatment.
Generally, it takes 1.5 to 2 years for the recommendations of pay commissions to be implemented from the formation of the commission to the issue of the final gazette notification. Employee unions argue that if the government has to deliver the benefits of the 8th Pay Commission on time, the announcement of the Terms of Reference (ToR) with the names of the chairperson and members of the commission should not be delayed any longer.
The unions have also suggested that now the traditional structure of long wait of 10 years should be done away with and the pay review based on the ‘Ayndkroyd Formula’ should be done automatically every 5 years or whenever the Dearness Allowance (DA) crosses 50%. If the government does not begin formal talks on this soon, employee organizations are warning of planning nationwide demonstrations in the coming months.