Employee unions have been urging the government to make important changes to the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the 8th Pay Commission. Several unions and staff bodies claim that nearly 69 lakh pensioners have been excluded from the scope of the new commission. They also point out that the ToR does not mention when the new recommendations will come into effect.
Some unions have even announced protests, saying the government prepared the ToR on its own without including their input. Meanwhile, the government has not responded to these demands or suggested any amendments so far.
Questions to be raised on 8th pay commission
All attention is now on the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning December 1. Many expect Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to address some of the issues raised by employee groups. As seen in earlier sessions, multiple questions related to the 8th Pay Commission will likely come up again. This time, MPs are expected to focus on the ToR concerns highlighted by the unions.
The government has already uploaded hundreds of questions from MPs on the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites.
For almost one crore central government employees and pensioners, the government’s reply in Parliament will be important, as it will show how it views the concerns raised after the release of the new Terms of Reference (ToR). One of the main issues everyone is waiting to hear about is the 8th Pay Commission’s ToR and whether the DA will be merged with basic pay.
Unions demanding changes to the ToR
Recently, central government employee unions have stepped up their pressure on the Centre. They have warned of joint protests if their demands are ignored. Many federations say that the ToR needs to be updated to fix several long-standing issues.
Their major demands include:
- Ending NPS/UPS and bringing back the old pension scheme (OPS).
- Increasing the fitment factor for fair salary hikes across pay levels.
- Merging DA with basic pay immediately since DA has crossed 50%.
- Redesigning the Pay Matrix to reduce stagnation in promotions.
- Stopping the practice of dividing pensioners into different groups.
- Releasing the pending 18 months of DA/DR from the COVID period.
- Removing the 5% limit on compassionate appointments.
- Filling vacant posts and stopping outsourcing.
- Restoring recognition to employee unions and ending action against union leaders.
- Implementing old arbitration awards.
- Regularising long-term contractual workers.
Employee groups say these changes are necessary and fear that without corrections to the ToR, the new pay panel may repeat earlier mistakes. Many unions have already threatened nationwide protests if the government does not respond.
A crucial phase for both employees and the Centre
The 7th Pay Commission completes its term on December 31, 2025. Ideally, the 8th Pay Commission should begin from January 1, 2026. But because of delays, both in announcing the commission and finalising its ToR and members, it may take around two years before the new recommendations actually get implemented.
For now, everyone is waiting for December 1. On that day, employees, pensioners, unions, and experts expect the government to give answers that could influence the salary, allowances, and retirement benefits of more than one crore current and retired employees for the next ten years.
