8th Pay Commission: Govt employees’ basic salary may not be doubled as expected – Know why!

After the approval of the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, now the eyes of central employees and pensioners are fixed on how much their salary and pension will increase. The biggest discussion is going on about the fitment factor, because on this basis the increase in salary and pension is decided.

Fitment factor must be 2.57 or more

National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra recently said that the fitment factor should not be less than last time. It must be at least 2.57 or more.

In a conversation with a TV channel recently, he said that given the current level of inflation, there should be a reasonable increase in the salary of the employees. “The last Pay Commission had fixed a fitment factor of 2.57, so how can it be less than this time?”

How much will the salary increase if the fitment factor is 2.86?

Last year, Mishra had said that NC-JCM would demand a fitment factor of 2.86. If the government agrees to this, the minimum wage can increase from Rs 18,000 to Rs 51,480, and the minimum pension will increase from Rs 9,000 to Rs 36,000.

However, former Finance Secretary Subhash Garg believes that “asking for a fitment factor of 2.86 is like asking for the moon.” According to him, the government can keep the fitment factor around 1.92.

Also read: 8th Pay Commission Salary Calculator: Central Govt employees to get 50% salary hike?

Why is a fitment factor of 2.57 necessary?

Shiv Gopal Mishra, who was also a part of the 7th Pay Commission negotiations, says that the 7th Pay Commission had fixed the fitment factor of 2.57 on the basis of the 1957 Indian Labor Conference and Dr. Aykroyd’s minimum living wage formula.

But Mishra says that these formulas are now outdated. Inflation has increased a lot in today’s era, so the government should not keep the fitment factor less than 2.57 at all.

If the 8th Pay Commission recommends a fitment factor of 2.57, then the minimum wage can increase from Rs 18,000 to Rs 46,260, while the minimum pension can increase from Rs 9,000 to Rs 23,130.

What will happen next?

At present, the government has given the green signal to the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, but it will be interesting to see how much decision is taken in favor of the employees. Discussions on this are going to intensify in the next few months, and lakhs of government employees are hoping that this time they will get a fair salary hike in view of their hard work and rising inflation.