By Admin 
8th pay commission salary hike: The Modi government at the Center announced the formation of the 8th Pay Commission in January 2024. Since then, about 1.2 crore central government employees and pensioners across the country are eagerly discussing its outline and possible salary increase. The biggest question is how much fitment factor will be and how much salary will increase?
What is a fitment factor?
The Fitment Factor is the Multiplier through which the new Pay Commission is calculated the new basic pay. For example, if an employee has an existing basic salary 18,000 and the fitment factor is 2.86, then his new basic pay can be 51,480. But as big as this figure is seen, there is no real benefit.
Understand from previous pay commissions
The Fitment Factor in the 6th Pay Commission (2006) was 1.86, which increased the salary of 54 per cent on an average. In comparison, the fitment factor in the 7th Pay Commission (2016) increased to 2.57, but the real increase was only 14.2 percent. The main reason for this was that most of the fitments were used only in adjusting dearness allowances (DA).
What can happen this time?
Different employee organizations demand that fitment factor 2.86 be placed in the 8th Pay Commission so that the “real increase in salary and pension” feels. However, according to a report by Financial Express, former Finance Secretary Subhash Garg says that such a huge increase does not seem practically possible. It is estimated that the fitment factor may be fixed around 1.92. If this happens, the minimum basic pay can go up to 34,560. But experts believe that a large part of the fitment factor will again go into inflation adjustment.
How did the real increase in the 7th Pay Commission?
During the 7th Pay Commission, 125 percent dearness allowance was added with the current salary. In that case, only 0.32 of the fitment factor of 2.57 could be considered as “new increase”. Meaning, only 14.2 percent of the total increase was the real advantage, everything else was just the new form of the earlier amount.
What is the Current Status?
The government has recently issued two circulars and started the appointment process for 40 posts for the 8th Pay Commission. Officers are being appointed on deputation from different departments on these posts. Soon the Terms of Reference (Tor) of the Commission will be released, after which the chairman and other members will be appointed. The recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission are to be implemented from 1 January 2026 as the tenure of the 7th Commission is ending on 31 December 2025.
How much financial burden will be on the government?
The 7th Pay Commission had an additional financial burden of 1.02 lakh crore on the government. If the fitment factor is kept more in the 8th Commission, then this burden may increase even more. Therefore, this time the government is taking more thoughts.
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