8th Pay Commission: Employee forum gears up for salary hike discussion

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), representing central government employees, on Thursday said that it is gearing up for salary hike discussions as the 8th Pay Commission is yet to be formally constituted.

The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the commission, which will provide the basis for establishing new salaries, are anticipated to be approved by the Centre by the end of August, according to an NDTV Profit report.

NC-JCM proposed that the 8th Pay commission should calculate the minimum wage based on a five-unit family model, including ageing parents, instead of the current model which accounts for only three family members.

Currently under the 7th Pay Commission, the earning husband of the family is counted as one unit, wife as 0.8 unit and two children as 0.6 units each.

NC-JCM expects this model to be revamped, arguing that taking care of parents, apart from being an ethical duty, is also a legal responsibility as per Indian law.

The staff side of NC-JCM has also called for the merger of unviable pay scales to prevent pay stagnation, which indirectly affects the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme. It has sought the merger of pay scale level 1 with level 2, level 3 with level 4, and level 5 with level 6.

The employ forum also sought for restoration of commuted portion of pension after 12 years. It also called for the "recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on enhancement of pension after every five years."

As per precedents, the commission’s recommendations will be submitted to the government in around 18 months, and could take another three to nine months before government issuing the final approval. The fiscal impact of the 8th Pay Commission is expected to be Rs 2.4-3.2 lakh crore, Kotak Institutional Equities said in a recent note

The NC-JCM is an official body comprised of bureaucrats and employee union leaders, and its purpose is to serve as a communication channel between the central government and its employees in order to effectively address employee concerns.

--IANS

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