Eighth Pay Commission Begins State-Specific Consultations Amid Central Government Staff Demands for Pay Increases

Eighth Central Pay Commission Meets Employee Associations Across India

The Eighth Central Pay Commission (CPC) has begun visiting states and union territories to meet with employee associations and unions, taking notes and memoranda of their demands and proposals. The Commission's first face-to-face interaction with employee associations based in Uttarakhand took place on Friday, April 24. Another such meeting is scheduled for April 28-30 in Delhi.

The Commission has stated that it is scheduling meetings with the maximum number of unions/associations during these dates, but due to a compressed schedule, not all requests for interaction may be accepted.

The Eighth Central Pay Commission was constituted by the Government of India in January 2025, with the terms of reference (ToR) approved in November. The Commission will examine and recommend changes in basic pay, allowances, benefits, and service conditions for over 4.5 million employees and 6 million pensioners across the country.

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Timeline for Recommendations

The 8th CPC will make its recommendations within 18 months of its constitution. The pay commission is currently accepting online submission of feedback and suggestions, memorandums from service associations on its official website. The window for online submissions is open until April 30 for Delhi delegates, while for unions based in Uttarakhand, the final submission deadline was April 10.

Key Proposals

Since the constitution of the 8th CPC, several service associations have lined up to suggest revisions to fix the fitment factor, minimum basic pay, annual increment, family units, dearness calculation, and other benefits for central government employees and pensioners. The drafting committee of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) recently concluded their meetings and submitted a memorandum suggesting that the 8th Pay Commission set the fitment factor at 3.833.

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The committee has also suggested that the present system of treating a family as three units should be dispensed with, and the family should be treated as five units, as well as the merger of pay scale, and taking a 12-month average to calculate dearness allowance.

Similarly, other service associations in their ongoing meetings with the CPC have placed similar proposals, while also suggesting implementable and balanced solutions for calculating basic minimum pay, DA, transport allowance, fitment factor, and other benefits.

The 8th CPC is expected to hold similar interactions with service associations based in Pune and Maharashtra during May.