According to those with knowledge of the development, employee unions that represent central government employees anticipate clarification on the establishment of the 8th Pay Commission during a meeting with authorities next month.
Union representatives with knowledge of the situation claimed the National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery, an official forum for resolving conflicts between the government and workers, will meet in November, though an official announcement is still pending.
The meeting will take place next month, and clarity on 8th Pay Commission’s formation is certainly expected. We will definitely raise this matter,” said All India Railwaymen’s Federation chief Shiv Gopal Mishra, who is also the secretary (staff side) of NC-JCM.
“We have already submitted two memorandums before the government, requesting them to constitute the pay commission at the earliest,” he told.
The first memorandum was submitted to Rajiv Gauba, who was the Union Cabinet Secretary at the time of the presentation of the Union Budget in July. According to Mishra, the second memorandum was submitted to his successor TV Somanathan, who took charge as the Cabinet Secretary on Aug. 30.
A senior official of the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers, while speaking to a TV channel on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that 8th Pay Commission would be discussed in the NC-JCM meeting next month.
The delay in 8th Pay Commission’s formation has raised speculations on whether the government is considering another mechanism to revise the salary of its employees. On being asked about this, the official said, “Things will get mostly cleared in the JCM meeting next month.”
Pay commissions are generally formed once in 10 years to revise the salary of government employees. The 7th Pay Commission was formed by the then Manmohan Singh-led government in February 2014, and its recommendations were implemented from January 2016.
As compared to 2014, the date of formation of 8th Pay Commission has been delayed.
In an interview aired on July 25, TV Somanathan, who was then the finance secretary, told that what happened in 2014 was “unusual” as the announcement was made as part of a pre-election budget. That was not the normal date for the announcement of the pay commission, he said.
Notably, the announcement related to 8th Pay Commission is awaited by around one crore central government employees and pensioners.
In the Budget Session of Parliament in July, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said there was no proposal currently under the government’s consideration to constitute the pay panel.
In June 2024, two proposals for the establishment of the eighth Central Pay Commission were received.The minister had said, “At this time, the government is not considering any such proposal.”
The government’s speech in Parliament, according to the employee unions, does not rule out the formation of a wage commission. The top official of the Confederation of Central Government Employees stated, “There is still much time left for the implementation of the 8th pay commission.”
More significant than the 8th Pay Commission’s founding date would be the day on which its recommendations are put into effect, Mishra stated.
Ten years after the last pay commission was put into effect, the employees should receive their wage revision. We anticipate that the pay increase will take effect on January 1, 2026. The head of the Railwaymen’s Federation continued, “We have no doubts about the government’s intentions.
Source – Media
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