8th Pay Commission Kolkata Meeting: Ever since the Central Government has approved the Eighth Pay Commission, its meetings have been going on continuously. There is continuous discussion regarding the eighth pay scale in these meetings. In which fitment factor, discussion related to pensioners and many other issues are being discussed. Recently a meeting was held in Kolkata on Thursday i.e. 9 July 2026. In which meaningful discussions are going on regarding many such issues.

This two-day meeting is going to continue till Friday, July 10, 2026. Earlier, the Commission had held similar meetings in cities like Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Srinagar and Ladakh, where important discussions were held regarding the salaries of employees. So now the employees are keeping an eye on this meeting going on in Kolkata, let us tell you what issues can be discussed in this meeting.

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Issues discussed in the Kolkata meeting of the 8th Pay Commission
In this meeting of the 8th Pay Commission, the discussion is going on regarding the salary of employees, pensioners and others, pension of pensioners including dearness allowance. During this time, many issues are going to be discussed in the meeting. The important issues in which are as follows:

• Employee organizations are demanding maximum increase in fitment factor. Currently in the 7th Pay Commission it was 2.57. There is a demand to increase it to 3.8.
• Bharatiya Immunity Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS) has demanded 4 times fitment factor. With this the minimum basic salary can be Rs 72,000.
• Whereas the National Council (JCM) Staff Side (NCJCM) has proposed a fitment factor of 3.833.

Basic salary will also increase
If approval is given to increase the fitment factor in this meeting, then the basic salary of the employees will also increase. At present the minimum basic salary of central government employees is Rs 18,000, there is a demand to increase it. At the same time, many employee organizations can also raise the demand for re-implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Although the government has implemented the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), many organizations still want to bring OPS back.

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These issues will also be discussed
Not only this, but many other issues will also be discussed in this meeting like changes in House Rent Allowance (HRA), uniform dearness relief, better medical facilities for pensioners, improvements in MACP (Modified Assured Career Progression) scheme etc.

Will the decision be taken in the meeting?
Many people feel that some decision will be taken after this meeting. But it is not so, there will be no final decision on increasing the salaries in the Kolkata meeting. The Commission is only taking the opinions and suggestions of employees and organizations. Will prepare its final report later on the basis of these suggestions.

8th Pay Commission: In the meetings of the 8th Pay Commission, government employee unions have always demanded the restoration of the old pension scheme.

Unions have been demanding for years that the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) should be implemented in place of the National Pension System (NPS). But as this debate is gaining momentum again during the discussions of the 8th Pay Commission, now the representatives of the employees have also started believing that it may not be that easy to completely abolish the NPS. Now the question arises why so?

Why challenging to return to OPS?

In fact, almost two decades have passed since NPS was implemented and during this period, more than Rs 16.5 lakh crore has been deposited in the system with the contribution of employees and the government. This money is invested in the stock market, government bonds and various corporate instruments through government financial institutions like LIC, SBI, UTI.

In such a situation, if the government completely returns to OPS, then this huge amount of money will have to be suddenly withdrawn from the market. This will cause huge turmoil in the stock market and bond market. On top of that, there is also a danger of the liquidity crisis deepening.

This is the reason why now many employee organizations are not just talking about bringing back OPS, but are demanding to give ‘OPS like guarantee’ within the framework of the existing NPS or Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).

Why do employees still want OPS?

Despite the complexities of the financial market, government employees demand the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) because OPS assures them of a 100% secure and inflation-free future for life. In OPS, not a single rupee is deducted from the salary in the name of pension. The government bears the entire pension expense from its budget.

In NPS/UPS, employees have to deposit 10 percent of their basic salary in the pension fund every month. They believe that this deduction from their hard-earned money is unfair. In OPS, the government increases Dearness Allowances (DA) twice a year, whereas there is nothing like this in NPS.

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8th Pay Commission: Amid discussions on the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, the Indian Railway Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) and other railway unions have demanded major changes in the methods of Dearness Allowance (DA) and House Rent Allowance (HRA) calculations.

This is the demand of railway unions

Unions say that the basket of goods (Consumer Price Index) used for DA calculation should also include internet fees, bottled water and health insurance premiums as per the needs of the new age. The unions have demanded that when DA reaches 50 percent, it should be merged into the basic pay, as was the case in the Fifth Pay Commission.

Four-tier system for HRA

At present HRA is divided into three categories (X,Y,Z cities). IRTSA has proposed to change this to a four-tier system.

• A category (population more than 50 lakh) – 40% HRA
• B Category (20-25 lakh population) – 30% HRA
• C Category (5-20 lakh population)-20% HRA
• D Category (Population less than 5 lakh) – 10% HRA

Other major demands

• Demand to increase the minimum basic salary from Rs 18000 to Rs 52600-69000.
• Demand to increase the fitment factor for salary hike from 2.86 to 3.83.
• Demand to increase the reimbursement of Children Education Allowance (CEA) to Rs 10000 per month and continue it till post-graduation.

These things are also included in the proposal

The association has also proposed some important changes in the ‘Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme’. Currently, employees get very few financial upgrades during their service, but during a career of 30 years, IRTSA has demanded five financial upgrades. According to this scheme, employees will be compensated upon fulfilling the following conditions: six years of service; 12 years of service; 18 years of service; 24 years of service and 30 years of service. According to the group, this will increase opportunities for professional growth and financial security for railway employees.

The union has also suggested changes in the rules related to leave encashment. According to IRTSA, employees should have the facility to take cash payment in lieu of at least half of the holidays credited to their account while on the job. Apart from this, the organization has also tried to increase the maximum limit of cash payment in lieu of leave at the time of retirement from 300 days to 600 days. The organization believes that employees should be more financially compensated for the vacation time they have accumulated over many years of employment.

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In Rajasthan, the old pension scheme of more than 5.25 lakh state employees is once again under threat. The government has started implementing the new pension scheme by abolishing the old pension scheme. In the first phase, along with loss-making corporations, boards and commissions, some universities have also been given permission to end the old pension scheme. Currently, efforts are being made to implement this as an experiment where the number of employees is very limited.

Employees and their organizations have already started protesting against this experiment. They are beginning to fear that after a few days it will be implemented in the whole of Rajasthan. The employees clearly say that they will not tolerate this at any cost and will fight every battle for this in a democratic manner.

Gehlot government had implemented OPS

In fact, the previous Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan had announced in the year 2022 that any employee who wants to join the old pension scheme can apply for it. Almost all the employees of the state had changed their pension plan after this. From April 1, 2023, 5,24,822 employees of the state started getting the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme. Like other parts of the country, the Old Pension Scheme had stopped being available in Rajasthan from January 1, 2004. However, old employees are continuously getting it.

Gave the liberty that if she wishes, she can end the old pension scheme of her employees and bring them under the ambit of NPS. However, before implementing it they will have to take formal approval from the government. The number of employees in the institutions which have been given permission to abolish the Old Pension Scheme is very limited. In such a situation, no strong voice of protest is coming out from there.

Movement may intensify after festival

After this decision of the government, other employees of the state and their organizations have started protesting against it. Although the voices of protest are still slow, preparations are being made to sharpen it after the festivals of Diwali and Chhath. The employees clearly say that the government is conducting a kind of experiment. After the institutions, it will be implemented in the entire state and more than five lakh employees will have to bear the brunt of it.

At present, the employees have been protesting by protesting and raising slogans in their respective offices or workplaces, but they have clearly said that in the coming days, they will take to the streets and protest and if necessary, they will be forced to stop work and go on strike. Employees say that if the MPs and MLAs themselves are not making changes in their pension scheme then why are the employees being made its victims. He will not accept it at any cost and will oppose it at every level.

Will protest with employees- Congress

Since the matter is related to the interests of more than five lakh employees, political parties also do not want to lag behind in this. The opposition has also said that it will support the agitating employees. Senior Congress party leader and former cabinet minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas says that the present BJP government is not thinking about anyone’s interest and is busy troubling everyone. According to him, if the employees raise their voice regarding this, then the Congress Party will be seen standing with them.

Will talk to government employees

On the other hand, the Rajasthan government, which came on the backfoot, says that it is ready to talk to the employees if needed. According to state Deputy CM Premchand Bairwa, the government will take any step only after talking to the employees.

On the other hand, BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Madan Rathod claims that there is absolutely no resentment among the employees regarding the implementation of the new pension scheme in place of the old pension scheme. Now it remains to be seen whether the Rajasthan government withdraws its steps after the dissatisfaction of some employees or abolishes the old pension scheme itself.