8th Pay Commission: Fitment factor to pay scale - what's new in Terms of Reference suggestions vs 7th CPC?

A comparison of the major suggestions from the staff side for the 8th and 7th CPCs reveals a significant shift in approach and demands, reflecting the changing realities of the times.

Approach to Minimum Salary Determination

The NC-JCM Staff Side has recommended that the 8th CPC should provide for a "Decent and dignified Living Wage".

Further, the staff side has suggested the 8th CPC should consider increasing the consumption units from 03 family units to 3.6 family units as recommended by an expert committee constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to determine the National Minimum Wage Policy in the year 2019.

In contrast, the staff side's demand before the 7th CPC was to determine a "need-based minimum pay", "estimated entirely from the ILC norms and factoring in the 1991 ruling of the Supreme Court to provide for education, medical, recreation, festivals and ceremonies."

Fitment factor

The staff side demanded a minimum pay of ₹26,000 from the 7th CPC at a fitment factor of around 3.7. They had also asked for a uniform fitment factor in place of the grade pay recommended by the 6th CPC. However, the 7th CPC recommended a fitment factor of 2.57, raising the minimum salary from ₹7000 to ₹18,000.

Pay scales

The NC-JCM staff side has suggested that the 8th CPC should consider merging non-viable pay scales such as Level-1 with Level-2 and Level-3 with Level-4 and Level-5 with Level-6.

Before the 7th CPC, the staff side demanded ‘simplification and rationalisation" of pay scales. Various stakeholders had demanded a change in the Grade pay methodology adopted by the 6th CPC as it "resulted in the difference in grade pay between adjacent levels".

Further, the employees had asked to go back to the system of individual pay scales as the difference in successive pay bands recommended by the 6th CPC was not uniform. The variation was much more remarkable between Pay bands 3 and 4.

Pension

The staff side has said that the 8th CPC should review and restore the old pension scheme under CCS (Pension Rules) 1972 (Now 2021) for the Central Government employees recruited on or after 01-01-2004.

Before the 7th CPC, there was no specific demand to restore the OPS. However, the top demands on pension, as mentioned in the 7th CPC report were the following:

• Raising the existing rates of pension and family pension

• The quantum of minimum pension should equal the minimum wage

• Increase in the rate of additional pension and family pension to the older pensioners as also reducing the age the eligibility for its receipt from the existing 80 years

• Increasing the existing time period of seven years for enhanced family pension

• Enhancement in the gratuity ceiling of ₹10 lakh and its indexation

• Rationalisation of death gratuity

• Reduction in the time period for restoration of basic pension, reduced on account of commutation

• Ex-gratia lump sum compensation

• Enhancement of ceiling of Earned Leave for purposes of Leave Encashment

• Enhancement in the existing rates of Fixed Medical Allowance

• Enhancement in the rates of Constant Attendance Allowance

• Parity in Pension between pre and post-Seventh CPC retirees

Dearness and other allowances

The staff side has suggested the 8th CPC's should determine the percentage of dearness allowance/dearness relief immediately to be merged with pay and pension. Further, they have suggested a review of the Children's Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy up to the Post Graduation Level.

Before the 7th CPC, the staff side had suggested continuing with the existing formula for DA calculation. Further, they demanded that the CEA should be raised and extended to graduation/post-graduation studies also.

The 7th CPC was of the view CEA should be calibrated in such a manner that the main objective is met without the government entering into the field of subsidising private education