NC-JCM Seeks May 31 Deadline Extension from 8th Pay Commission, Pushes Old Pension Scheme Revival

The deadline extension of memorandum submission to May 31, 2026, separate meeting time slots for different employee bodies, revival of non-contributory pension scheme (Old Pension Scheme), and personal visits to different central government-run industries such as Railways and Defence to notice working conditions of employees were the main discussion points in the meeting between National Council–Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) and the 8th Pay Commission officials on Tuesday (April 28, 2026).

In a letter dated April 28, 2026, C Srikumar, secretary, All India Defence Employees' Federation (AIDEF), who was also present in the meeting, highlighted key areas that were points of the discussion between NC-JCM's delegation led by its secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra and 8th Pay Commission chairperson, Ranjana Prakash Desai, and other officials.

Memorandum submission deadline extension

NC-JCM has 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 the PDF and MS Word formats. The memorandum includes proposals of a particular employee body regarding pay, pension, allowance and other working conditions of employees.

Revival of non-contributory pension scheme

NC-JCM has long been demanding the abolition of National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) and the revival of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). It also reiterated its demand in the Wednesday 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 government was contributing and opted for the Pension Scheme. NC-JCM says it justifies continuing the non-contributory pension scheme for central government employees.

Frequent interactions between 8th CPC and NC-JCM

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 said 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 its recommendations.

Separate time slots for different federations/associations

Another point of the discussion was to provide 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 slot for oral evidence and for presenting their case before the 8 CPC," as per the letter.

Visit to industries to notice hazardous/risky conditions of workers

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 a first-hand information and knowledge of the difficulties faced by such employees and recommend appropriate pay scales allowances and other benefits for them.