8th Pay Commission: Major meeting underway in Bhubaneswar today; will a significant decision be made?

8th Pay Commission Bhubaneswar Meeting: A meeting regarding the 8th Pay Commission is taking place today in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha. Following the conclusion of this meeting tomorrow, July 7, the Commission's next stop will be Kolkata.

8th Pay Commission: The meeting for the 8th Pay Commission begins today, July 6, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and will continue until tomorrow, July 7. After Odisha, the Commission's next meeting is scheduled for July 9 and 10 in Kolkata. According to information available on the official 8th Pay Commission website, senior officials—including Member Secretary Pankaj Jain—are participating in this meeting.

During these sessions, face-to-face interactions will be held to hear people's expectations regarding the 8th Pay Commission. The resulting report will impact 55 lakh central government employees and 69 lakh pensioners. It will determine the extent of salary or pension hikes and the structure of other allowances under the Commission's recommendations.

This meeting takes place after the June 15 deadline for submitting memoranda expired. This indicates that the Commission is now shifting its focus from written proposals to direct consultations with stakeholders across the country.

What issues will be discussed at the meeting?

Prior to the Bhubaneswar meeting, the Commission held similar sessions in various parts of the country, such as Srinagar and Lucknow. As part of a nationwide consultation process, the Commission is meeting with employee unions, pensioner associations, and other stakeholders to gather their suggestions. Feedback from these meetings is expected to help formulate recommendations on key issues, including minimum basic pay, the fitment factor, Dearness Allowance (DA), pension revisions, allowances, and other service-related conditions.

What are the employee unions demanding?

Employee unions are demanding an increase in the fitment factor from 2.57 to either 2.86 or 3.83, which would result in higher basic pay. Similarly, they are demanding an increase in the minimum basic pay from ₹18,000 to either ₹41,000 or ₹69,000 per month. Furthermore, they are demanding that the pension upon retirement be set at 67% of the last drawn pay and that the family pension be fixed at 50% of the last drawn pay.

Despite hearing these demands from employee unions, the commission has not yet indicated any proposed figures. Apart from salary, the issue of pensions is also a heated topic among the employee unions. The unions are also demanding the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS); they have made it clear that the NPS or UPS is not acceptable to them.