8th Pay Commission: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a Cabinet meeting that decided to establish the 8th Pay Commission.
8th Pay Commission: The Union Cabinet approved setting up the 8th Pay Commission to revise the salaries of central government employees and pensioner allowances.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the decision to set up the 8th Pay Commission was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The minister informed us that the chairman and two commission members will be appointed soon.
The minister added that consultations with central and state governments and other stakeholders will also be held.
The central government constituted a pay commission once every decade to revise the salary structure of its employees. In addition to revising the salary structure, each pay commission has a term of reference (ToR) that broadly defines its focus. Pay commissions also decide pension payments.
There are over 49 lakh central government employees and nearly 65 lakh pensioners. The 7th Pay Commission was established in 2016 and will expire in 2026.
Who is covered under pay commissions?
According to the 7th Pay Commission, central government employees are all persons in the civil services of the central government and those who are paid salaries out of the consolidated fund of India, the account from which the government collects its revenues.
The 7th Pay Commission does not cover employees of public sector undertakings (PSU), autonomous bodies, and Gramin dak sevak. Thus, someone working in coal India would not be covered.
PSU employees have separate pay scales depending on the undertaking they are working for.
What were the changes in the 7th Pay Commission?
Employee unions demanded a 3.68 fitment factor for the 7th Pay Commission salary revision, but the government decided on a 2.57 fitment factor. The fitment factor is a multiplier used to calculate salaries and pensions.
This led the minimum basic pay to become ₹18,000 per month, compared to the ₹7,000 in the 6th Pay Commission.
The minimum pension also rose from ₹3,500 to ₹9,000.
The maximum salary became ₹2,50,000, and the maximum pension became ₹1,25,000.
