BPMS Demands Rs 72,000 Minimum Basic Salary for 8th Pay Commission

The Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS), which is an affiliated member of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM)-staff side, in its draft submitted to the 8th Pay Commission on Wednesday demanded a minimum basic salary of Rs 72,000 for central government employees, a maximum of Rs 10 lakh and a fitment factor of 4.0.

BPMS, which represents civilian employees of defence services, is also pushing to raise the annual increment of central government employees to 6% from 3%. The NC-JCM affiliate also wants the family units used for salary calculation to increase from three to five.

In the 7th Pay Commission, the basic salary of an entry level (Level 1 as per pay matrix) employee is Rs 18,000, which means a Rs 72,000 minimum salary demanded by BPMS will be a four-fold jump. Not just that, the employee body also wants the highest basic salary of Rs 2,50,000 to jump to Rs 10 lakh a month.

For calculating a four-fold hike in minimum salary, BPMS has considered the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MoSPI) per capita net national income data. The employee body claims that per capita income in India has increased from Rs 1,03,219 in 2016–17 to Rs 1,92,774 in 2024–25, an approximately 86.76% rise in less than a decade.

Applying the above growth factor to the existing minimum pay determined by the 7th Central Pay Commission, BPMS reached this conclusion. Minimum pay (7th CPC): Rs 18,000. Dearness allowance @ 58%: Rs 10,440. Sub total: Rs 28,440. Increase @86.76%: Rs 24,674.54. Revised minimum pay: Rs 53,114.54.

Since the 7th Pay Commission calculated the basic salary of an employee for three family units, the per unit salary, as per BPMS, stands at Rs 53,114.54/3 = Rs 17,704.85. Since the defence employee body wants the government to calculate five family units for the 8th Pay Commission, BPMS estimated the salary for such a family is = Rs 17,704.85 X 5 = Rs 88,524.

The employee body says while the above calculation yields a minimum pay of Rs 88,524.24 based on objective economic growth and a realistic family unit structure, it is equally important to recognise the broader fiscal implications for the government. The employee body argues pay revision impacts not only central government employees but also has cascading effects on pensions, allowances and state government pay structures.

"Therefore, any recommendation must balance adequacy of wages with fiscal sustainability, keeping in view factors such as revenue growth, fiscal deficit targets, and competing demands on public expenditure including infrastructure, social welfare, and defence," says BPMS in its draft.

"In this context, a moderated and pragmatic approach is proposed. Instead of adopting the full computed figure of Rs 88,524.24, a calibrated level of Rs 72,000 per month may be considered appropriate," says BPMS in its draft.

Since it is demanding a four-fold increase in the minimum salary, the fitment factor is also 4.0. BPMS says it is pertinent to note that this fitment factor includes a component of 1.58 on account of Dearness Allowance (DA) neutralisation. "The remaining portion of the fitment factor represents the real increase necessary to ensure a dignified standard of living, consistent with the principles adopted by previous pay commissions," says BPMS.

The 7th Pay Commission has 18 levels of basic pays for Group D, C, B and A employees. BPMS has recommended merging Level 2 and 3, Level 4 and 5 and Level 9 and 10. Its proposed pay structure for the 8th Pay Commission ranges from Level 1 with revised entry pay of Rs 72,000 to Level 18 with revised entry pay of Rs 10,00,000.