8th Pay Commission: Demand to include parents in the family unit; this would raise the minimum basic pay..
8th Pay Commission: Central government employees have demanded the inclusion of parents (including dependent in-laws) in the proposed expansion of the family unit for the 8th Pay Commission. This would increase the employee's family unit count from three to five. Previous pay commissions had considered up to three family units when calculating need-based minimum wages: the government employee (1 unit), the spouse (0.8 units), and two children (0.6 x 2 = 1.2 units).
Significant disparity in pay across employee levels
Employee associations and unions argue that the new pay commission should consider family units that include parents when calculating need-based wages. If this demand is accepted, the basic pay of central government employees at all levels would increase significantly. The unions contend that there is a vast disparity in pay between different levels of employees.
Demand to increase the number of family units
According to employee unions, the minimum monthly basic pay for Level 1 is ₹18,000, while for Level 18 employees, it is ₹2.5 lakh per month. The National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JMC), which represents the employees, argues that the family unit count should be set at five. This should comprise the employee (1 unit), the spouse (1 unit—up from 0.8 units), up to two children (0.8 units x 2 = 1.6 units), and parents (including dependent parents) (0.8 units). Dependent parents-in-law should also be included in the family unit.
If the 8th Pay Commission assigns a value of 0.8 units to parents and increases the spouse's unit value by 0.2, the total family units would rise to 5.2. The NC-JCM demands that dependent parents-in-law be taken into account when considering family units for determining the minimum wage. The ICMR recommendation of 3,490 kcal for food and clothing requirements should be adopted. The housing component should be raised from the current 3 percent to 7.5 percent.
Calculation of ₹69,000 minimum pay for 5 units
Fuel, electricity, and water charges should constitute 20 percent of the overall cost. Skill development should account for 25 percent, and additional expenses for 5 percent. In its memorandum, the NC-JCM's drafting committee stated that the minimum pay calculated by the NC-JCM for a 5-unit family is ₹69,000. Based on this, the fitment formula for employees and pensioners would be 3.83.
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