Regarding the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, the Central Government has bluntly replied that there is no idea of its formation as of now. The resentment of about two crore employees and pensioners is being seen on this. Employees’ organizations have termed the decision of the Central Government not to constitute the Eighth Pay Commission as extremely unfortunate.
Central government employees and pensioners are going to get good news very soon. There will be an increase of four percent in the dearness allowance of employees and dearness relief allowance of retired people. At present DA/DR is being given at the rate of 46 percent. This allowance will increase by four percent by next month. The rule is that as soon as the rate of dearness allowance crosses fifty percent, the government will have to seriously consider the formation of the 8th Pay Commission. The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers stood at 138.8 points. The All India CPI-IW report for December 2023 has been released by the Labor Bureau of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Government of India on January 31, 2024. However, employee organizations have not received any encouraging response from the Central Government on the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission.
In the second half of last year, the central government had increased the dearness allowance of its employees by four percent. After that the rate of Dearness Allowance i.e. ‘DA’ increased from 42 percent to 46 percent. Now there is a possibility of 4 to 5 percent increase in dearness allowance of government employees from January 1, 2024. Staff-side National Council (JCM) member and general secretary of All India Defense Employees Federation (AIDEF) C. Sreekumar says the current DA rate of personnel is 46 per cent. When this rate increases by four or five percent from January 2024, that figure will reach 50 percent or beyond. However, the Central Government announces the increased rates of this allowance in the month of March. Various employee organizations have demanded the government to constitute the Eighth Pay Commission.
The index was compiled at the level of 138.8 points.
A decrease of 0.3 points has been recorded in the All India CPI-IW for December 2023 released by the Labor Bureau of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Government of India on January 31, 2024. The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers stood at 138.8 points. There has been a decrease of 0.22 percent in the index compared to the previous month, whereas a decrease of 0.15 percent was recorded between the same two months a year ago. The Price Index for Industrial Workers is compiled every month by the Labor Bureau, an office related to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, on the basis of retail prices collected from 317 markets in 88 important industrial centers spread across the country. The index is compiled for 88 industrial centers and all India. This compilation is released on the last working day of the following month.
Change affected by 0.45 point percentage
The maximum contribution to the decline recorded in the index has been made by the Food and Beverages group, which has influenced the total change by 0.45 percentage point. The decrease recorded in the index is of items like rice, poultry chicken, mustard oil, apple, banana, cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, French bean, green coriander, ginger, onion, potato, tomato, pea, radish and domestic electricity charges etc. Due to the recorded decline in prices. In contrast, mainly wheat, buffalo milk, fresh fish, brinjal, drum stick, garlic, lady’s finger, white sugar, prepared food, tobacco leaf, prepared paan, readymade trouser pants, leather sandals/chappal/slippers, electric battery, employees State insurance contribution, toothpaste/tooth powder, auto rickshaw/scooter fare and bus fare etc. have controlled the decline recorded in the index.
The decrease in 33 centers was between 0.1 to 0.9 points.
At the central level, Coimbatore’s index is highest at 4.7 points, followed by Ludhiana with a decrease of 3.2 points. In other six centres, there was a decrease of 2 to 2.9 points, in 18 centers there was a decrease of 1 to 1.9 points and in 33 centers there was a decrease of 1 to 1.9 points. In contrast, Solapur has recorded a maximum increase of 1.5 points. In other 6 centers the increase was between 1 to 1.4 points and in 19 centers the increase was between 0.1 to 0.9 points. The indices of the remaining three centers remained stable. The inflation rate for December 2023 has been 4.91 percent compared to 4.98 percent last month and 5.50 percent in the same month last year. The food inflation rate was 8.18 percent compared to 7.95 percent last month and 4.10 percent in the same month a year ago.
…then the salaries of the employees will be revised.
For the last several years, the DA of central employees has been increasing by four percent. In January this year also, DA rates may increase by four to five percent. If this happens then the salaries of the employees will be revised. Many types of allowances will also increase by up to 25 percent. The Central Government will have to constitute the Eighth Pay Commission. In that situation, the central government employees will feel good news. The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended that ‘pay’ revision at the Center should be done only every ten years, it is not necessary. There is no need to wait for this period. It can also be periodic. However, the Pay Commission has not given any clear definition as to when and after how much time the Pay Commission should be constituted.
Dissatisfaction among two crore employees and pensioners
Regarding the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, the Central Government has bluntly replied that there is no idea of its formation as of now. The resentment of about two crore employees and pensioners is being seen on this. Employees’ organizations have termed the decision of the Central Government not to constitute the Eighth Pay Commission as extremely unfortunate. National President of All India State Government Employees Federation, Subhash Lamba has said that he will protest against this decision of the Central Government. Now ‘Bharat Pensioner Samaj’ has also raised the demand for formation of 8th Pay Commission. Also, the government has been requested to release the arrears of DA of 18 months which were stopped during the Corona period.
Bharat Pensioners Samaj (BPS) General Secretary SC Maheshwari said, during the 68th AGM, a resolution has been passed that the Eighth Pay Commission should be constituted without delay. SB Yadav, General Secretary of the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers, has written a letter to Prime Minister Modi requesting that in the current circumstances, the Eighth Pay Commission should be constituted without any delay. However, on behalf of DoPT, the officials of Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers have been told over phone that there is no proposal for the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission in the agenda of the government.
