Central govt employees demand redefining ‘family’, link it to Rs 69,000 pay proposal

New Delhi: Central govt employees have demanded a steep hike in the basic salary to Rs 69,000 under the 8th Pay Commission, suggesting that the current system of treating a family as three units should be dispensed with, and a should be treated as five units, to include parents.

The current minimum basic from Rs 18,000.

In its memorandum submitted to the Pay Commission on Tuesday, NC-JCM, the apex body of communication between the central govt (as employer) and its employees, has referred to improvement in standards of living in recent years. It has urged the Commission to set the fitment factor at 3.83 to determine basic pay for over 45 lakh employees and 60 lakh pensioners across the country.

Fitment is the multiplier used to revise the basic pay of employees when transitioning to a new Pay Commission structure. This is instrumental in introducing uniform revision of basic pay scales across all levels. The Seventh Pay Commission had introduced the fitment factor of 2.57, which raised the minimum basic pay from Rs 7,000 to Rs 17,990.

Reasoning to treat a family as five units, the NC-JMC has said that an employee should be treated as one unit, spouse as one unit, two children as 0.8 unit each, and parents as 0.8 unit each. It has mentioned the legal obligations under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act and the Social Security Code, 2020, which define ‘family’ to include dependent parents, and female employees can also include their parents-in-law as part of their family.

Shiv Gopal Mishra, secretary of the JCM Staff Side, said that their memorandum has been submitted and a meeting of the standing committee of JCM Staff Side and 8th Pay Commission is scheduled on April 28.

The committee has also suggested the need to balance the gap between minimum and maximum pay to avoid excess disparity. “The ratio should not been more than 1:12. This will help in reducing income in equality, improving morale and reinforcing the govt’s role as a model employer committed to fairness and social justice. Moreover the pay scales also should not have a wide gap between one pay scale and the other pay scale and a structural balance may be maintained,” the memorandum said.

On the Dearness Allowance (DA), it has suggested that allowances are essential components of compensation and must be protected and periodically revised, and this must remain fully indexed to inflation.

The NC-JCM also suggested cadre restructuring, higher annual increments — from the existing 3% to 6%, and pension parity. It has said that increased expenditure should be “viewed as an investment rather than a burdenas” as pay revisions contribute positively to economic growth and fiscal sustainability.


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