Three Opposition lawmakers in the Lok Sabha questioned the government on Monday about its delay in setting up the 8th Pay Commission. They cited that it’s been over a decade since the 7th Pay Commission was formed. Congress MPs Jai Prakash and Ve Vaithilingam, and Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauria questioned the Ministry of Finance about its awareness of the growing discontent among government employees regarding the lack of announcement on the formation of the new Pay Commission.
The inquiry from three lawmakers follows on the heels of the finance ministry’s statement to the Rajya Sabha, where they revealed that there are currently no plans to establish the 8th Pay Commission.
Typically, the government establishes pay commissions every decade to review and revise the salaries of central government employees. The Manmohan Singh-led government established the 7th Pay Commission in 2014, and implemented its recommendations from January 1, 2016.
Lok Sabha MPs jointly submitted written questions to the finance ministry, inquiring, “whether the government is aware of resentment among central government employees for not constituting the 8th CPC (Central Pay Commission) and if so, the response of the government thereto.”
Meanwhile, the National Council of Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) has recently appealed to the Union Cabinet Secretary to accelerate the formation of the new Central Pay Commission without any further delays.
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8th Pay Commission: What You Need To Know?
The Narendra Modi government is reportedly considering a drastic shift in its approach to revising salaries and pensions for central government employees. Instead of establishing the 8th Pay Commission, the government may introduce a new mechanism to ensure timely revisions, said an NDTV Profit report.
“I still believe that the 8th Pay Commission is the best route to revise the wages. But, yes, it is possible that the government may come with up another (mechanism),” NDTV Profit quoted Shiv Gopal Mishra, secretary, staff side of the NC-JCM.
Mishra earlier said that the upcoming Pay Commission is likely to consider a fitment factor of “at least 2.86”. If the government OKs this fitment factor, the minimum salary for the central government employees would see a substantial increase of 186%, jumping from the current Rs 18,000 to Rs 51,480. Furthermore, at the same fitment factor, the minimum pension may rise from the existing Rs 9,000 to Rs 25,740.
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