8th Pay Commission: Why was early implementation of recommendations turned down by the 7th CPC?

As the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) begins its work, central government employees and pensioners are hoping for an early implementation of recommendations. Some of them have even demanded an interim relief from the government as the 8th CPC may take 12-18 months to submit its recommendations.

While it remains to be seen whether the government will implement the 8th CPC recommendations early or offer any immediate relief to employees, one recalls that a similar demand for early implementation of revised pay structures was also made before the 7th Pay Commission. But it was denied.

This article looks at why the 7th CPC denied the request for an early implementation of revised pay structures.

Why the 7th CPC denied early implementation

The Staff Side, which represents central government employees in pay commission deliberations, had demanded that the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission should be implemented with effect from January 1, 2014. They had argued that the non-merger of DA with Basic Pay had led to a substantial erosion in the value of wages.

"The various associations of the JCM-Staff Side have demanded that the recommendations of this Commission should be implemented w.e.f. 01.01.2014. Their argument is that there has been substantial erosion in the value of wages owing to non-merger of DA, which has crossed the 100 percent mark in January 2014. They have also demanded wage revision after every five years, instead of the present decennial exercise," the 7th Pay Commission noted in its report.

However, the Staff Side's demand was denied by the 7th CPC. The pay panel argued that it was constituted well before the completion of 10 years of 6th Pay Commission. And its recommendations would be available for consideration before the end of 10 years of the 6th CPC.

"However, it is to be noted that this Commission was constituted in year 2014, well before the completion of ten years since the implementation of the VI CPC recommendations, which were made effective on 01.01.2006. As a result, its recommendations would be available for consideration before the ten year period gets over on 01.01.2016. The Commission does not agree with the demand of early implementation of revised pay structure and recommends that the date of effect should be 01.01.2016," the 7th CPC said in its report.