Other matters discussed included preparing responses to 18 questions asked by the CPC, increasing Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) charges from Rs 1,000 monthly to Rs 20,000 for non-CGHS cities and including allowances for essential services like internet.
C Srikumar, secretary general of All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF) told ET Wealth Online that employee associations like defence, railways, postal services, income tax department, accounts and audit and others were present in the meeting.
Revealing the details of the meeting, Srikumar said, “The meeting tried to find a consensus on issues such as minimum basic pay, promotion policy, annual increment, etc. In the upcoming days, different employee associations will send their demands related to the 8th Pay Commission to the JCM. In the next 10 to 15 days, a common memorandum will be prepared on behalf of all associations,” says Srikumar.
Srikumar said once the common memorandum is prepared, it will be submitted to 8th Pay Commission chairperson Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
Manjeet Singh Patel, who represents the Central Government Employees’ Confederation in NC-JCM told ET Wealth Online that the meeting to decide the common memorandum is on March 10, following which it can be sent to the 8th Commission in the next 1-2 weeks.
Patel mentioned that while issues like minimum pay, fitment factor, and pensioners are the main focus of the discussions in the NC-JCM meeting, there has been a long-standing demand for including members of the union territories and central autonomous bodies to the JCM.
Here are some of the issues that were discussed in the meeting-
Increase family units to 5
Patel said that increasing family units from three to five for salary revision is important because we also want parents to be included for salary calculations.The 8th Pay Commission has asked stakeholders to respond to 18 questions it has posted in its website.
Srikumar said since the deadline for sending this feedback is approaching, in the meeting, they talked about fast-tracking the process.
Same fitment factor for pensioners and employees
Srikumar says one of the topics discussed in the meeting was to extend the same fitment factor to 68 lakh pensioners and family pensioners as to employees. He also mentioned 60% of the pensioners are either the former soldiers or their dependents and hence how can they be left out.
Abolish NPS, UPS and restore UPS
Patel said that the NC-JCM has long been demanding the abolision of the National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension System (UPS) and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Patel said this topic was also discussed in the meeting.
Minimum 5 promotions
Srikumar said that many talented employees at junior levels feel frustrated as there are not many chances of promotions in their jobs. “In the 8th Pay Commission, we want the government to ensure at least five promotions for each employee.”
Maximum pay 10 times of minimum pay
Srikumar said the employees’ bodies want disparity to be minimum in the basic pay of the junior most and senior most employees. He said it was discussed that the maximum basic pay should not be more than 10 times of the maximum pay.
In the 7th Pay Commission, the maximum basic pay is 13 times of the minimum basic pay.
Increase CGHS charges
For employees and pensioners, where CGHS-empanelled hospitals are absent, employees get Rs 1,000 monthly allowance. Patel says employee bodies wanted it to increase to Rs 20,000 a month.
