8th Pay Commission- There is good news for government employees. Preparations have begun for the 8th Central Pay Commission, which will be implemented from January 1, 2026.
According to a report by Business Standard, employee organizations have submitted a long list of their demands to the government, which have been appealed to take into consideration. The main demands of the organizations include restoration of the old pension scheme, cashless treatment facilities, children’s education and hostel expenses, and separate allowance and insurance coverage for employees doing risky work. The recommendations of this commission will affect about 45 lakh employees and 68 lakh pensioners, including people from the defense and paramilitary forces.
Demand for return of old pension intensifies
The biggest demand of the employees is that those recruited after 2004 should also get the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Currently, they get pension under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), which is based on contributions and the benefits are less. Employees want that they should also get a fixed and secure pension after retirement, as they used to get earlier. Along with this, it has also been said that the pension amount should be increased every 5 years and old and new pensioners should get equal benefits.
Treatment facility should be completely cashless
Employees have also raised some important points regarding treatment. They say that even today many employees and pensioners have to pay for treatment from their pockets and later have to face a long hassle of refund. Therefore, a demand has been made to the government to implement a completely cashless medical facility, in which retired employees receiving pension also get equal treatment. There is a need to improve the system especially for retired employees of the postal department.
In view of the rising cost of education, employee organizations have said that the government should help in bearing the expenses of children’s education. They want that all employees should get education allowance for children’s education, and if the child studies by staying in a hostel, then hostel subsidy should also be given. This assistance should be available till post graduation level, so that there is no hindrance in the higher education of children.
There has been a demand for providing risk allowance and insurance protection to employees who work in the manufacture or storage of dangerous things like weapons, chemicals, acids and explosives. There has also been a demand for a special risk and hardship allowance for railway employees, so that those who work in a risky environment every day, get compensation according to their hard work and risk.
Demand for change in MACP scheme
MACP i.e. Modified Assured Career Progression is a scheme under which financial benefits are provided to those employees who have not received promotion for a long time. Now the employees want that the scope of this scheme should be increased and it should also include Gramin Dak Sevaks, Paramilitary Force personnel and employees of autonomous institutions running under the government. Along with this, it has also been said to abolish some old and irrelevant pay scales and merge them with new and practical scales.
Preparations to fix new spending scale
Employee organizations say that the Standard Consumption Unit (SCU) should be increased from 3 to 3.6. This unit tells how much an average person needs on a daily basis, and it is used to determine the basis of minimum wages and government expenditure. If this suggestion is accepted, then government expenditure will increase and the starting salary for employees can also be fixed higher.