8th Pay Commission: Govt gets proposal; know latest update

In the latest update, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions under the Department of Personnel & Training (Do&PT) has forwarded a letter from the Indian Railways Technical Supervisors’ Association to the Department of Expenditure regarding the formation of the 8th Central Pay Commission for the further action.

In an Office Memorandum dated March 20, 2024, the ministry said, "The undersigned is directed to forward a copy of letter No. IRTSA/Memo-7 dated 26.02.2024 received from Shri R.V. Ramesh, General Secretary, Indian Railways Technical Supervisors’ Association on the subject mentioned above to the Department of Expenditure for further necessary action."

What did the letter state regarding the formation of the 8th Central Pay Commission? Take a look

A central pay commission is usually constituted at intervals of ten years, “to examine, review, evolve and recommend changes regarding the principles that should govern the emoluments’ structure including pay, allowances, and other facilities/benefits, in cash or kind, as well as the specialized needs of various Departments, agencies, and services, in respect of central government employees”.

What 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Pay Commissions recommended on formation of a new Pay Commission
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th CPCs recommended constituting permanent machinery to undertake a periodical review of the pay, allowances, and conditions of service of the Central Government employees. 6th CPC recommended for implementing its recommendations w.e.f. 01.01.2006, a ten-year period since the implementation of the 5th CPC. 7th CPC recommended that the pay matrix may be reviewed periodically without waiting for a long period of ten years, the letter said.

Key changes since the 7th Pay Commission implementation
"Since the implementation of 7th CPC recommendations w.e.f. 01.01.2016, many changes have taken place in government functioning, performance & size of Indian economy, GDP growth, quantum of various tax collections, role of various government departments, inflation pattern, erosion of real wages due to inflation, condition of service, role of private sectors in public utilities and government’s regulation over them, number of employees in each department, number of employees covered under National Pension Scheme (NPS), considerable reduction in poverty, changes in consuming pattern of employees & general public, etc.," the letter stated.

There are many legal cases pending across the country in various courts regarding anomalies in pay level, increment, pay fixation, promotions, MACPS, retirement benefits, etc, consuming precious time of courts and affecting the efficiency of Government functioning, the letter added.

'Urgent need for 8th Pay Commission to remove anomalies'
"A new pay commission needs to be constituted for the elimination of disparities/anomalies in salaries between different groups of employees and for the reasons explained above. Sufficient time should be given to the pay commission to study all principles relating to pay & allowance, working conditions, promotional avenues, classification of posts, etc., and to hear the views of every stakeholder including staff side," according to the letter.

"It is therefore requested to constitute 8th Central Pay Commission immediately to enable it to have sufficient time to give comprehensive recommendations to clear all existing anomalies and without giving room for future anomalies," the letter concluded.


( Originally published on Apr 26, 2024 )