8th Pay Commission: Will the salary structure of railway engineers change? Demand for major salary revisions..
8th Pay Commission Update: A series of meetings has been ongoing since the constitution of the 8th Pay Commission. Established on November 3, 2025, the Commission is reviewing pay structures, pensions, and allowances while balancing employee demands with the government's budgetary priorities. Meanwhile, at a meeting held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, railway engineers demanded significant changes to their pay. The engineers urged the Commission to address long-standing concerns regarding pay parity, career progression, and promotions. They also sought 'Group B' status and revisions to the existing pay structure, arguing that railway engineers have faced disadvantages since the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission.
According to 'The New Indian Express', the 'All India Railway Engineers Federation' (AIREF) and the 'East Coast Railway Engineers Association' (ECoREA) presented these demands during discussions with Pankaj Jain, Member Secretary of the 8th Pay Commission. This meeting was part of the Commission's nationwide outreach program, which allows employee unions, pensioners, and other stakeholders to voice their concerns, enabling the Commission to formulate recommendations on pay, pensions, and allowances.
AIREF Demands Pay Parity and 'Group B' Status
Representing AIREF, Secretary General BP Dash submitted the federation's memorandum to the Commission, stating that the pay structure for railway engineers had deteriorated following the 6th Pay Commission. Dash noted that despite playing a crucial role in railway operations, railway engineers receive lower pay compared to employees in non-technical and non-safety cadres. He urged the Commission to restore the pay structure that existed before the 6th Pay Commission and to grant railway engineers 'Group B' status, bringing them on par with employees in other central government departments. AIREF also urged the commission to recommend increasing the share of 'Group B' posts in the Railways from the current 0.29% to 7.5%, bringing it in line with the national average.
**Ongoing Consultations with Stakeholders**
The meeting held in Bhubaneswar on July 6 and 7 was part of a series of consultations organized by the 8th Pay Commission with employee unions, pensioners, and other stakeholders across the country. The Commission is expected to conclude the final round of consultations in Kolkata on July 10 before formulating its recommendations. Before this, discussions were held in Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Srinagar, Ladakh, and Bhubaneswar. Beyond issues specific to railway employees, unions have demanded a better fitment factor, revised allowances, pension improvements, enhanced House Rent Allowance (HRA), and modifications to the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) framework.
The objective of these meetings is to gather suggestions and demands from employee organizations before the Commission prepares its final report. No immediate changes are expected to result from these consultations.
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