8th Pay Commission: The Modi government had announced the formation of an 8th Pay Commission in January 2024. Since the formation of the new pay panel, there has been speculation about the fitment factor. Let us tell you that the Pay Commission calculates the new basic salary of central government employees on the basis of the fitment factor.
Amidst the ongoing discussions on the fitment factor in the 8th Pay Commission, more than 1.2 crore central government employees and pensioners are waiting to know how much their salary and pension will ultimately increase. As per reports, the central government will soon present the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Eighth Pay Commission. Once the ToR is finalized, the chairman and key members will be appointed for the 8th Pay Commission.
Let us tell you that last month the government had issued two separate circulars which revealed that the process of appointment of 40 employees in the Eighth Pay Commission is underway. The Finance Ministry circular said that on most of these posts, officers from different government departments will be appointed on deputation basis.
Various employee organizations are demanding fitment factor in the Eighth Pay Commission. Some of them have demanded a fitment factor of 2.86 so that the existing salary and pension of government employees and pensioners can be substantially increased. Although they are demanding a high fitment factor, it does not seem so easy to get the government to agree to this demand.
Former Finance Secretary Subhash Garg had recently said that such a big hike (2.86) is not possible. Many believe that the fitment factor for the 8th Pay Commission, which will replace the 7th Pay Commission , could be around 1.92.
how much will the salary actually increase?
Let us tell you that the fitment factor will be applied on the basis of basic pay. For example, if the pay panel recommends a fitment factor of 1.92, then the minimum basic salary will increase to Rs 34,560.
However, experts say that a large part of the fitment factor is for inflation adjustment and what remains is the actual salary increase. That is, the figure of 2.86 may seem very big, but the actual benefit may be less.
6th vs 7th Pay Commission: What was the fitment factor?
In the Sixth Pay Commission (2006), the fitment factor was 1.86, but the actual pay increase was about 54%.While in the 7th Pay Commission (2016), the fitment factor increased to 2.57, but the actual salary increase was only 14.2%. So one can see that the calculation is not as simple as one might think since most of the 7th Commission went into adjusting the dearness allowance only.