New Delhi: Central government employees are waiting for the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission. The recommendations of the Pay Commission are almost a year away. But before that, central employees have started making various estimates for their new salaries and allowances. For this, the estimated fitment formula is being used as a basis.
In fact, the main body of central employees, the ‘National Council- Giant Consultative Machinery’ (NC-JCM), has demanded the implementation of a fitment factor of 3.833 in the 8th Pay Commission. However, according to some experts, this estimate is too high, but many believe that the Pay Commission can fix the fitment factor between 2.0 and 2.25. If the Pay Commission fixes a fitment factor of 2.25, does this mean that the gross salary of central employees will increase by that proportion?
If we look at the previous pattern, the 7th Pay Commission had a fitment factor of 2.57 but the gross salary of the employees had increased by only 14.29%. On the other hand, the fitment factor in the 6th Pay Commission was 1.86, but the gross salary had increased by 54%. The increase in gross salary under the 4th and 5th Pay Commissions was 27.60% and 31% respectively.
What is the estimate from the 8th Pay Commission?
The bank market estimates show that even if the 8th Pay Commission fixes the fitment factor in the range of 2.0 to 2.57, the gross salary of Level 1-18 employees could still increase by 31% to 68%. It is noteworthy that looking at the gross salary increase data from the 4th to the 7th Pay Commission, the highest increase was 54% as per the 6th Pay Commission, in which the fitment factor was 1.86. In contrast, the 7th Pay Commission had the lowest increase of 14.29%.
Now the question arises that why can the gross salary increase be less despite the high fitment factor? In this situation, the current DA rate plays an important role. Let us tell you that the main part of the salary of central government employees is basic salary, DA, HRA and TPTA, but other allowances vary based on the work of the employee, job status, job hazards and place of posting.
Now all eyes are on the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission. The government had constituted the 8th Pay Commission in November last year. The Pay Commission has been operational since 2026. Not only has the Pay Commission portal been launched in the first six months of the year, but meetings are also being held at various locations. These meetings are being held with employee organizations and other stakeholders.
