The anticipation grows for the formal setup of 8th Pay Commission, as it has been over five months since its formation received nod from the Union Cabinet. The focus of the key stakeholders, in the upcoming days, is expected to shift towards the fitment factor and other modalities for the revision of central government employees' salaries and retirees' pensions.
What could be the wage hike in the best case scenario? Although senior union leaders indicated in 2024-end that they would press for a fitment factor of 2.86, a member of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery—the topmost employee forum—indicated that it may not get accepted.
The 8th Pay Commission should at least repeat the fitment factor of 2.57, which was set under the 7th Pay Commission, the NC-JCM member told NDTV Profit in an earlier conversation. This is an expectation and cannot be taken as a likelihood, he clarified.
No formal demand has so far been made as the panel is yet to be set up. The member also did not comment whether fitment factor of 2.57 would be the official demand from the staff side of NC-JCM.
Fitment factor, notably, is the multiplication unit used for the revision of salaries and pensions.
Considering 2.57 as the fitment factor in the best case scenario, here's a look at how the salaries may rise under Pay Band 1. The entry level pay, or minimum salary, may cross the Rs 46,000 mark in such a case.
Under Pay Band 1 and Level 1, the entry-level salary currently is Rs 18,000. If the fitment factor of 2.57 is repeated by the 8th Pay Commission, then the same will rise to Rs 46,260. (18,000 x 2.57).
In the same band, the entry-level salary under Level 2 stands at Rs 19,900. A fitment factor of 2.57 can raise it to Rs 51,143 (19,900 x 2.57).
The entry-level wage under Level 3 is currently Rs 21,700. It may rise to Rs 55,769 (21,700 x 2.57).
In Level 4, the minimum salary is Rs 25,500, which can rise to Rs 65,535 (25,500 x 2.57) if the fitment factor is of 2.57.
In Level 5, the entry-level salary presently is Rs 29,200. This can rise to Rs 75,044 (29,200 x 2.57) in such a scenario.
Notably, the setup of 8th Pay Commission is expected after the government approves the Terms of Reference for the panel. As per the precedent, the panel takes around 18 months to submit its report to the government, which is scrutinised for about another six months before being implemented.
The last pay panel, the 7th Pay Commission, was set up in 2014 and its report was implemented with effect from January 2016. The implementation had an estimated impact of Rs 1.02 lakh crore on the exchequer.
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