The National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery, NC-JCM (staff side), the main central government employees' body, in its memorandum submitted to the 8th Pay Commission, made a number of recommendations for pay, pension, allowance and other service conditions of employees.
Some of the NC-JCM's key proposals were about revised pay, pension, fitment factor, house rent allowance (HRA) rates, annual increment rate and leave encashment.
The employee body also recommended the revival of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), more promotions in jobs, higher child education allowance and better healthcare and medical benefits.
Here, we take you through five of its key demands and how they can impact the payouts for over one crore central government employees and pensioners.
1. Rs 69,000 minimum pay and 3.833 fitment factor
The NC-JCM has recommended the 8th Pay Commission to increase the minimum salary of a central government employee from Rs 18,000 to Rs 69,000. It means a 3.833-fold rise, implying the demand for a 3.833 fitment factor.
NC-JCM's proposed pay levels to 8th Pay Commission
S. No. Proposed Level Existing Pay Matrix (₹) Proposed Minimum Pay (₹) 1 Pay Scale 1 (Existing Level 1) 18,000–56,900 69,000 2 Pay Scale 2 (Merger of Levels 2 & 3) 21,700–69,100 83,200 3 Pay Scale 3 (Merger of Levels 4 & 5) 29,200–92,300 1,12,000 4 Pay Scale 4 (Existing Level 6) 35,400–1,12,400 1,35,700 5 Pay Scale 5 (Merger of Levels 7 & 8) 47,600–1,51,100 1,82,500 6 Pay Scale 6 (Merger of Levels 9 & 10) 56,100–1,77,500 2,15,100 7 Pay Scales 7–13 (Existing Levels 11–17) Retained using fitment factor 3.833 Not specified
2. Higher pension and family pension
The NC-JCM has proposed pension equivalent to 67% of the last pay drawn and family pension equivalent to 50% of the last pay drawn. At present, pension and family pension are 50% and 30% of the last pay drawn. If the NC-JCM's demands are accepted, this is how the new rates can impact pension and family pension payouts, assuming a 2.0 fitment factor for the 8th Pay Commission.
Current pensionable pay Pension (at 50% of last-pay drawn) Family pension (at 30% of last-pay drawn) 8th CPC proposed pension (at 67% of last-pay drawn and 2 fitment factor) 8th CPC proposed family pension (at 50% of last-pay drawn) and 2 fitment factor ₹ 50,000 ₹ 25,000 ₹ 15,000 ₹ 67,000 ₹ 50,000 ₹ 1,00,000 ₹ 50,000 ₹ 30,000 ₹ 1,34,000 ₹ 1,00,000 ₹ 1,50,000 ₹ 75,000 ₹ 45,000 ₹ 2,01,000 ₹ 1,50,000 ₹ 2,00,000 ₹ 1,00,000 ₹ 60,000 ₹ 2,68,000 ₹ 2,00,000
3. 6% annual increment rate
The NC-JCM has also recommended increasing the annual increment rate from 3% to 6%. Central government employees get a 3% increment every year on their basic pay. The employees' body says that such an increment rate is inadequate for employees to meet rising inflation. Here's an illustration of how a 6% annual increment may look against the 3% increment rate for a Level 4 employee.
Basic pay of Level 4 employee= Rs 25,500
Estimated revised basic pay at 2.1 fitment factor= Rs 53,550
Year Monthly Basic(with 3% Increment) Annual Salary (3%) Monthly Basic(with 6% Increment) Annual Salary (6%) 1 ₹ 53,550 ₹ 6,42,600 ₹ 53,550 ₹ 6,42,600 2 ₹ 55,157 ₹ 6,61,878 ₹ 56,763 ₹ 6,81,156 3 ₹ 56,811 ₹ 6,81,734 ₹ 60,169 ₹ 7,22,025 4 ₹ 58,516 ₹ 7,02,186 ₹ 63,779 ₹ 7,65,347 5 ₹ 60,271 ₹ 7,23,252 ₹ 67,606 ₹ 8,11,268 6 ₹ 62,079 ₹ 7,44,950 ₹ 71,662 ₹ 8,59,944 7 ₹ 63,942 ₹ 7,67,298 ₹ 75,962 ₹ 9,11,540 8 ₹ 65,860 ₹ 7,90,317 ₹ 80,519 ₹ 9,66,233 9 ₹ 67,836 ₹ 8,14,026 ₹ 85,351 ₹ 10,24,207 10 ₹ 69,871 ₹ 8,38,447 ₹ 90,472 ₹ 10,85,659 Total pay in 10 years ₹ 73,66,689 ₹ 84,69,979 Extra pay in 10 years ₹ 11,03,290
4. HRA slabs of 30%, 35% and 40%
As per the 7th Pay Commission, HRA slabs for Z, X and Y cities are 24%, 16% and 8%, respectively. But these rates reached 30%, 20% and 10% when DA reached 50% in January 2024.
However, the NC-JCM has recommended that the 8th Pay Commission increase these slabs to 30%, 35% and 40%, respectively. Let's see how the proposed HRA rates may increase the HRA amount for a Level 5 employee.
Level 5 basic pay= Rs 29,200
Revised basic pay at 2.1 fitment factor= Rs 61,320
City category Current HRA rate Current HRA (₹29,200 basic) Revised HRA rate Revised HRA (₹61,320 basic) Monthly HRA increase X category 30% ₹ 8,760 40% ₹ 24,528 ₹ 15,768 Y category 20% ₹ 5,840 35% ₹ 21,462 ₹ 15,622 Z category 10% ₹ 2,920 30% ₹ 18,396 ₹ 15,476
5. Leave encashment of up 600 days
At present, central government employees get a maximum of 300 days of leave encashment at retirement. The calculation of the leave encashment amount is based on the pay admissible on retirement, which includes the basic pay and dearness allowance (DA). The NC-JCM has recommended that the 8th Pay Commission increase the leave encashment at retirement to a maximum of 600 days.
Here's how the leave encashment for an employee retiring at Rs 50,000 basic pay and 63% DA under the 7th Pay Commission may look.
Particulars Current pay scenario Illustrative revised pay scenario Basic pay ₹ 50,000 ₹ 1,00,000 Dearness Allowance (DA) 63% 0% DA amount ₹ 31,500 ₹ 0 Admissible pay (Basic + DA) ₹ 81,500 ₹ 1,00,000 Leave days assumed for encashment 300 days 600 days Leave encashment amount ₹ 8,15,000 ₹ 20,00,000 Increase in illustrative leave encashment ₹11,85,000
These are illustrative examples as the real increase in payouts will depend on the notified rates of the 8th Pay Commission.
