NC-JCM Seeks May 31 Deadline Extension from 8th Pay Commission for Memorandum Submission
Employee body also demands revival of Old Pension Scheme and site visits to Railways, Defence to assess working conditions
Central government employees' representatives met with the 8th Pay Commission on Tuesday (April 28, 2026), requesting a deadline extension for memorandum submissions to May 31, 2026. Key discussions included the revival of the Old Pension Scheme and proposals for separate meeting times for various employee bodies.
The National Council–Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) delegation led by its secretary Shiv Gopala Mishra met with 8th Pay Commission chairperson Ranjana Prakash Desai and other officials. In a letter dated April 28, 2026, C Srikumar, secretary, All India Defence Employees' Federation (AIDEF), who was also present in the meeting, highlighted the key points of discussion.
NC-JCM requested the 8th Pay Commission chairperson to extend the memorandum submission date from April 30, 2026, to May 31, 2026. The employee body said that the deadline extension was needed since many employee organisations and pensioner associations were not able to submit their memorandum online. NC-JCM also requested the 8 CPC to accept the memorandum from employee organisations both in PDF as well as MS Word formats.
NC-JCM has long been demanding the abolition of the National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) and the revival of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). It reiterated this demand in the meeting. NC-JCM says the phrase 'unfunded pension' given in the 8 CPC terms of reference (ToR) is not correct, since the employees prior to the introduction of non-contributory pension have surrendered the Contributory Provident Fund Scheme in which the government was contributing and had opted for the Pension Scheme.
NC-JCM has requested the 8th CPC to formulate a time table for regular interactions with it. Highlighting its 60 years of history, NC-JCM pointed out that being the representative body of central government employees at the highest level, all previous pay commissions used to have regular and frequent interactions with it before finalising the recommendations.
Another point of discussion was the provision of separate time slots for different employee federations and associations who have also been submitting their respective memorandums to the 8th Pay Commission. "Federations and associations of different ministries will be submitting memorandum on the issues specific to a ministry/departments such as Railways, Defence, Income Tax, Postal, Accounts, Audit, etc. All those employees' organisations may be given separate time slots for oral evidence and for presenting their case before the 8 CPC," as per the letter.
NC-JCM says conditions under which a majority of employees are working mainly in the railways and defence industries and field units in different remote locations are very risky and hazardous. The key employee body has requested the 8 CPC to visit all those industries and locations to have first-hand information and knowledge of the difficulties faced by such employees and recommend appropriate pay scales, allowances and other benefits for them.
