8th Pay Commission: Big news has come out for government employees and pensioners. 8th pay commission In the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary shared important information on Wednesday. He informed that many employee organizations have made important recommendations for the Commission. These include demands such as restoration of old pension scheme (OPS) and increase in Standard Consumption Norms (SCN).
OPS restoration demand again
The most prominent demand of employee organizations states that the old pension scheme should be re -implemented. Especially for those employees, OPS should also be restored, who have come into government service after 1 January 2004.
If this demand is considered, millions of employees will get the benefit of sure and permanent pension after retirement, which is currently dependent on the market under the new pension scheme (NPS). It can then choose Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), in which money is also deducted from their salary.
Tave to increase basic salary
It has also been recommended by the organizations that the Standard Consumption Norm (SCN) should be increased from the current 3% to 3.6%. The norm decides how much income a person should have to meet minimum nutrition and needs. The direct impact of this growth will be on the basic salary of employees. If this proposal is accepted, a significant increase in the salaries of employees is possible.
Education Allowance and Cashless Medical Facility
Employees’ organizations have demanded restoration of education allowance for children, so that government employees get relief in education related expenses. Also, it has been recommended to implement cashless medical facility for employees and pensioners, so that they do not have to bear financial burden during treatment.
How long will the 8th Pay Commission be implemented?
The formal announcement of the 8th Pay Commission has been made in January 2025 itself. However, its terms of reference (TOR) has not been decided yet. The Commission will give its formal recommendations only after these conditions are fixed. The government has already made it clear that the recommendations of the Commission will be implemented from 1 January 2026. This means that if the recommendations of the Commission are late in getting, then employees and pensioners will get arrears.
How many people will benefit?
If the recommendations of the Commission are applicable, then it will benefit around 35-45 lakh existing employees and 68 lakh pensioners. This step is considered to be quite impressive from the social and economic point of view of the Central Government. This is also expected to speed up the consumption -based economy.
These recommendations have just come from the employee organizations and the government has to take the final decision on them. However, on behalf of the Minister of State for Finance, it shows information in Parliament that the government is very active about the 8th Pay Commission. The commission’s process is expected to intensify in the coming months.