As the work of the 8th Pay Commission is underway to address issues related to pay revision, salaries, pensions and fitment factor, the government employee unions are demanding a revision in the calorie intake of employees. Employee unions have argued that the updated nutrition standard should be considered when calculating minimum salaries, saying the previous formulas no longer accurately reflect current living expenses.
The Commission is currently in its consultation and memorandum submission phase. The government employee unions which have submitted memorandums to the 8th CPC are demanding an increase in minimum pay of employees and a five unit family framework consisting of employee, spouse, children and dependent parents.
8th Pay Commission: Concept of 3490 calories
In its memorandum submitted to the 8th Pay Commission, the Staff Side of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) argued that the Dr Wallace Aykroyd formula adopted by earlier pay commissions based on 2700 calories is no longer relevant. The memorandum instead referred to updated Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) standards and argued that the calorie requirement for an employee engaged in heavy activity should be considered at around 3490 calories.
The latest calorie requirements released by the ICMR and National Institute of Nutrition classify energy needs according to activity levels of sedentary, moderate and heavy. The recommended daily calorie intake for adults aged 19 to 39 years is:
Sedentary: men 2110 kcal, women 1660 kcal
Moderate: men 2710 kcal, women 2130 kcal
Heavy: men 3470 kcal, women 2720 kcal
The Staff Side argued that nutrition must ensure health, productivity and dignity and not mere survival.
The food basket must include:
Adequate protein sources such as milk, eggs, meat and fish.
Dairy consumption of 30-35 litres per month for 5 units
Fruits, vegetables and balanced nutrition
Spices, beverages and processed food
8th Pay Commission: Staff Side demand Rs 69,000 minimum pay
The Staff Side demanded a minimum pay of Rs 69,000 in the memorandum and appealed that the minimum pay must be based on a scientific living wage formula covering food, housing, education, healthcare, transport and the technological requirements.
The Staff Side developed its salary demand using comprehensive expense calculations. The memorandum attached calculations covering the cost of rice, wheat, pulses, vegetables, milk, fruits, edible oils, fish, eggs, spices, sugar, detergent, cloth, fuel, housing, water, healthcare, electricity, education expenses and technology charges across different cities. The Staff Side argued that the existing salary structure does not reflect the actual cost of maintaining a family.
8th Pay Commission: Family unit of five
At the heart of the Rs 69,000 demand is a move away from the traditional three unit family model used in earlier pay commissions. The Staff Side has proposed a five unit family framework consisting of employee, spouse, children and dependent parents.
The memorandum said that under legal obligations under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, it is mandatory that children support dependent parents. The current minimum pay is inadequate and must ensure a decent standard of living and not subsistence, the memorandum said.
“Minimum pay must be based on a scientific living wage formula covering food, housing, education, healthcare, transport and the technological/digital needs. The present system of treating a family as 3 units should be dispensed with and the family should be treated as 5 units (employee 1 unit, spouse 1 unit (no gender discrimination), 2 children, 0.8 units each of the parents 0.8 units. This works out to a total of 5.2 units (Rounded off to 5 units),” the memorandum said.
The memorandum states that considering the average retail prices of the food items, clothing expenditure, 7.5 percent for housing, 20 percent for fuel, electricity, water charges, 25 percent for skill development and for additional expenditure towards marriage, recreation, festival, technology charges at the rate of 5 percent, the minimum pay computed by the Staff Side is Rs 69,000 for a five unit family.
The Staff Side also proposed a fitment factor of 3.833 for fixing the pay of existing employees and for increasing the pension of existing pensioners.
8th Pay Commission: AINPSEF demand of calorie-based revision
The All India NPS Employees Federation (AINPSEF) also used calorie and food-cost calculations in its memorandum submitted to the 8th CPC. The federation argued that the present minimum pay does not fairly compensate employees in view of inflation and rising living expenses. The memorandum also stated that according to ICMR nutritional standards, a working individual needs around 3490 calories daily. It said that the cost of maintaining this nutritional level has increased significantly due to inflation.
