Eighth Pay Commission: After a long wait of about 10 months, the Term of Reference (ToR) of the Eighth Pay Commission was approved in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. This decision has brought great relief to about 50 lakh central employees and 69 lakh pensioners. Earlier, at the beginning of the year, the government had announced the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission and proposed amendments in the salaries and allowances of central employees and pensioners.

The Eighth Pay Commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. Along with him, Professor Pulak Ghosh of IIM Bangalore and Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have been included as members.

The government has directed the commission to submit its recommendations within 18 months. During this period, the Commission will prepare its report after consulting various stakeholders. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the date of implementation will be decided only after the interim report of the Pay Commission, although it is likely to be effective from January 1, 2026.

What is Term of Reference (ToR)?

The term of reference is actually a framework document of the Pay Commission, in which guidelines and parameters are given for preparing the report. It contains all the terms and conditions on the basis of which the Commission prepares its recommendations.

Its draft is prepared by the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM), which works under the Finance Ministry. The Union Cabinet gives final approval to the draft. The JCM consists of representatives from several ministries, of which 12 members are selected from the Standing Committee. These members finalize the ToR after discussing it with secretary level officials.

What is the formula for increasing salary – Fitment Factor?

The amount of increase in the salary of the employees completely depends on the fitment factor. This is a coefficient by which the old basic pay is multiplied to arrive at the new basic pay.

For example, the fitment factor in the Seventh Pay Commission was 2.57. That is, if the old basic pay of an employee was Rs 10,000, then the new basic pay became Rs 25,700 (10,000 × 2.57).

Formula:

New Basic Pay = Old Basic Pay × Fitment Factor

How much can the salary increase?

It is believed that in the Eighth Pay Commission, the fitment factor can be fixed between 1.83 to 2.86. If this happens, then it is possible to increase the salaries of central employees by 100 to 180 percent.

The 2.57 fitment factor implemented in the Seventh Pay Commission resulted in a 157 percent increase in pay, increasing the basic pay from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000. However, before making the recommendations of the new commission, the government will also consider factors like inflation rate, fiscal deficit and economic situation.

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A big statement of Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar has come out. In which he said that now the attendance of employees will be checked only after their presence in the national anthem. The uniform of government and private schools will now be the same, in which there will be no tie.

Education Minister Madan Dilawar said that in future we are also going to decide the uniform of teachers. Teachers will also have ID cards. Identity card will also be made mandatory for all students.

Academic session of education department will start from this month

Education Minister Madan Dilawar said that now the academic session of the Education Department will start from April 1 so that children will get books on time and they will get time to study during summer holidays. Till now the academic session used to start from July 1.

Madan Dilawar had participated in the Bhoomi Pujan program of Kota University auditorium today, during which he gave this information while addressing the media. Education Minister Madan Dilawar said that I have three departments. In such a situation, all three departments of Panchayati Raj, Education and Sanskrit departments will start with the national anthem in the morning and offices will close with the national anthem in the evening.

Attendance will start in the national anthem and anthem

An employee will be considered present only if he is present during the national anthem or anthem, otherwise he will be considered absent. Dilawar said that the parents will also be able to get information about the students coming to school.

He further said that soon parents will be able to get information on the number registered on Shala Darpan whether their child has reached school or not. We have started preparations regarding this, this system will be implemented soon.

India vs us salary system: The ways of increasing the salary of government employees in India and America are quite different. India has dependence on the Pay Commission, while Personal Management Office and Federal Law in the US handle salary, dearness allowance and job grades.

Pay Commission in India

The salary commission of central government employees and pensioners in India decides the pay commission. This commission is formed in a few years. Its role is to review the existing salary, allowances and pension and also create the structure of the new salary.

Let us tell you that the Pay Commission uses Fitment Factor. It is a multiplier. This multiplier measures the difference between the current pay structure and the proposed salary hike. For example, the Fitment Factor was kept 2.57 by the Seventh Pay Commission. Now suppose the current salary of an employee is 10 thousand and the fitment factor is 2.57. So not the basic salary will be 10 thousand × 2.57 = 25700.

This simply means that the salary of government employees in India increases only when the new pay commission is formed. This is done every 10 years.

How does salary grow in America?

Unlike India, there is no commission based system in America. In America, the government salary is controlled only through Personal Management Office as well as federal law and departmental rules. Employees in America are divided into different grades and levels. The salary here depends on their work, skill, experience and government grades.

Federal Law and Rules

Non -Labor Standard Act decides minimum wage and overtime rules. Labor Dippering Overn issues rules enhancing salary limits for Chhath. Along with this, the President also affects the salary. For example, the Widen administration had increased the minimum wage of the government contract employee to $ 15 per hour. It also included adjustment according to inflation.

Main difference between India and America

The increase in salary in India is done by the Pay Commission and it is at long intervals. But in the US, salary changes are made only through increases related to inflation, federal rules and performance reviews.

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The Sukhu government has given a big financial blow to thousands of government employees of Himachal Pradesh. According to the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission in 2022, the salary of employees was increased, which benefited millions of employees. But now the Sukhu government has withdrawn the notification of that rider and issued orders to fix the salary afresh. After this decision, there can be a cut of 10 to 20 thousand rupees in the salary of employees.

Why the decision was made

The government has said that the salary will be corrected under the new notification, so that the salary structure can be improved. However, no recovery will be done from employees who were earlier getting benefits. But 89 categories of employees will have to suffer losses from this decision.

Resentment among employees after verdict

There is resentment among the employees after this decision. The Secretariat Services Employees Organization has immediately demanded reconsideration of this decision. The organization has decided to meet the Chief Minister on Monday. The organization says that this step is not in the interest of the employees and this will have a big impact on the economic situation of government servants.

Himachal Pradesh Secretariat Services Employees Organization called an emergency meeting. It was decided in the meeting that on September 8, the representative of the organization will meet the Principal Secretary (Finance), Chief Secretary and Chief Minister and urge the government to withdraw the notification immediately. The organization says that any loss on the hard earned money of the employees is unacceptable.

Economic crisis will have to face

Employees say that the salary increase in 2022 was working as a relief for him. They can face financial crisis by withdrawing a sudden notification. The organization has appealed to the government to reconsider this decision keeping in mind the interest of the employees.

This issue will be discussed with the Chief Minister and the officials of the Finance Department in the meeting to be held on 8 September. Employees and organization hope that the government will soon withdraw this decision and stop the cut in their salary.

Last year, the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare (DOPPW) increased the maximum limit of gratuity for central government employees to Rs 25 lakh. This change came into effect from January 1, 2024, when dearness allowance (DA) reached 50 percent. However, it is not necessary that every government employee gets this full amount.

How is the calculation of gratuity?

The calculation of gratuity is done on the basis of a particular formula. According to the rule, the employee gets 16.5 times or 25 lakh rupees of his last salary (basic pay + dearness allowance), whatever is low, in the form of gratuity. This means that not every employee will get 25 lakh rupees, but gratuity will be fixed on the basis of their service period and salary.

Gratuity types

Government employees get two types of gratuity – retirement gratuity and death gratuity.

Retirement gratuity

A quarter of basic pay + dearness allowance is added for every 6 months of service.

A maximum of 16.5 times salary or 25 lakh rupees, whichever is less, will be given.

At least 5 years of service is mandatory to get gratuity.

Decath gratuity

If the employee dies during service, then his family will get gratuity according to this formula-

Service less than 1 year: 2 times the salary

1 to 5 years: 6 times the salary

5 to 11 years: 12 times the salary

11 to 20 years: 20 times the salary

More than 20 years: half salary for every 6 months

Will there be gratuity under Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)?

The central government is going to launch a new pension scheme, ‘Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)’ from April 1, 2025. The scheme combines the characteristics of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and National Pension System (NPS). In this, a minimum pension of Rs 10,000 will be given to employees with at least 10 years and a fixed pension will be given to those who complete the entire service period.

Recently, the government was asked in Parliament whether gratuity would be received under Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), as is found in Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and New Pension Scheme (NPS). The Finance Ministry replied that there is an option under UPS, NPS, and “Gratuity will be given as per Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under the National Pension System) Rules, 2021.”

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Unified pension scheme: The Central Government has issued a notification of the Integrated Pension Scheme (UPS) to give guarantee pension to the central employees. UPS rules will be implemented from April 1, 2025. After its implementation, the employees who come in government service will get the benefit of the integrated pension scheme, while this new pension scheme will also be able to choose the old employees, who will be in the service on April 1, 2025.

About 23 lakh central employees will get the benefit of Integrated Pension Scheme (UPS). The central government has also issued its rules and regulations. Under this, if an employee wants to get the benefit of pension under UPS, then they will have to fill the claim form by selecting the option of UPS on the portal. Under this scheme, employees will give a 10 % contribution for their pension. At the same time, the government’s control will be 18.5 percent of the total amount of basic pay and dearness allowance. The new pension scheme guarantees minimum pension to central employees. However, there are some conditions for this. Let us know that to get pension in UPS, central employees will have to work for at least how many years.

So much pension will be available on 25 years of service

Let me tell you, under the rules set under the Integrated Pension Scheme, the employee will have to work for 25 years. Employees who have completed 25 years of service will get a pension equal to 50 percent of the average basic salary of 12 months just before retiring. Suppose an employee’s average monthly salary of 12 months is 60 thousand rupees, then such an employee will get a pension of 30 thousand rupees after retirement.

You will have to do jobs at least so many years

The new pension scheme Integrated Pension Scheme (UPS) guarantees minimum pension to central employees. If an employee has completed at least 10 years of service, then he will be given a minimum pension of Rs 10,000 every month on retirement. In easy language, to get a minimum pension under UPS, the employee will have to work at least 10 years. Only then can he avail pension.

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