The Eighth Central Pay Commission has started visiting states and union territories to meet employee associations and unions, taking notes and memoranda of their demands and proposals.
The Commission held its first face-to-face interaction with employee associations based in Uttarakhand on Friday (Apr. 24) and has scheduled another such meeting for 28-30 April in Delhi.
“The Commission is scheduling a meeting with the maximum number of unions/associations during these dates. However, due to a compressed schedule, all requests for interaction during these dates may not be accepted,” the Commission stated on its official release issued on April 24.
Why are the 8th CPC meetings attended by employee unions and associations?
The Government of India constituted the 8th Pay Commission in January 2025, and approved the terms of reference (ToR) in November. The Commission will examine and recommend changes in basic pay, allowances, benefits and service conditions for more than 4.5 million employees and 6 million pensioners across the country.
The 8th CPC will make its recommendations within 18 months of the date of its constitution.
The pay commission is currently accepting online submission of feedback and suggestions, memorandums from service associations on its official website, the window of which has been kept open till April 30 for Delhi delegates. For unions based in Uttarakhand, the final submission ended on April 10.
Since the constitutions of the 8th CPC, several service associations have lined up to suggest revisions to fix fitment factor, minimum basic pay, annual increment, family units, dearness calculation, among other benefits for central government employees and pensioners.
The drafting committee of NC-JCM, responsible for dialogue between the Centre and its employees, recently concluded their meetings and submitted a memorandum, suggesting that the 8th Pay Commission set the fitment factor at 3.833.
They’ve also suggested that the present system of treating a family as three units should be dispensed with, and the family should be treated as five units, as well as the merger of pay scale, and taking a 12-month average to calculate dearness allowance, to name a few.
Similarly, other service associations in their ongoing meetings with the CPC have placed similar proposals, while also suggesting implementable and balanced solutions for calculating basic minimum pay, DA, transport allowance, fitment factor, and other benefits.