With just a week remaining for the Union Budget 2024 to be presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, S B Yadav, Secretary General of the Confederation of Central Govt Employees and Workers has written a letter to the Cabinet Secretary, demanding the constitution of the 8th Pay Commission.
In the letter, the top three demands that have been put forth are –Immediate Constitution of 8th Central Pay Commission, Scrapping of NPS and Restoration OPS; and Releasing of 18 months DA/DR which was frozen during the COVID -19 Pandemic to employees and Pensioners.
The following are the Charter of Demands that have been proposed by Yadav in his letter.
1. Immediate Constitution of 8th Central Pay Commission.
2. Scrap NPS, Restore OPS for all employees.
3. To Release 18 months DA/DR which was frozen during the COVID -19 Pandemic to employees and Pensioners, Restoration of commuted part of pension after 12 years instead of 15 years at present.
4. Remove 5% ceiling on Compassionate Appointment, grant compassionate appointment to all the wards/Dependents of the deceased employee.
5. Fill up all vacant posts of all the cadres in all Departments, stop outsourcing and contractorization in Government Departments.
6. Ensure Democratic functioning of Association/Federations as per provisions of JCM mechanism: (A) Grant recognition to Association/Federations which are pending, Withdraw the de-recognition orders of Postal Gr. C Union, NFPE, ISROSA. (B) Stop imposition of Rule 15 1(c) on service Association/Federations.
7. Regularize Casual, Contractual labours and GDS employees, grant equal status to employees of Autonomous Bodies to that of CG Employees.
8th Pay Commission Proposal Previously Sent
A couple of weeks ago, the proposal to set up the 8th Central Pay Commission was sent by Shiv Gopal Mishra, Secretary, National Council (staff side, Joint Consultive Machinery for central government employees) to the Modi government.
In his letter to the Cabinet Secretary, Mishra has urged the government to set up the 8th Pay Commission and deliberate on pay and allowances revisions.
The 8th Central Pay Commission, once set up and recommendations are accepted, will impact the salary brackets of approximately 49 lakh government employees and 68 lakh pensioners.
The pay commission is usually implemented after a gap of 10 years. Since the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission was accepted in 2016, the next will be in effect in 2026.
If the government decides to set up the 8th pay commission, it will require over a year or 18 months for its recommendations to be submitted. And once 8th Pay Commission recommendations are accepted by the government, it is most likely that it will be implemented by 2026, as per media reports.
