Good news for govt employees. Currently, over one crore central government employees and pensioners in the country are anticipating the establishment of the 8th Pay Commission. Everyone is focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the commission tasked with providing its report on salary and pension increases to the government. The 8th Pay Commission is set to be enforced starting January 2026, and prior to that, the commission will present its report.
In this context, one wonders that if the 8th Pay Commission is established and suggests raising salaries and pensions, what would be the extent of the salary hike for central employees? Despite the lack of an official statement from the government about the 8th Pay Commission, there are speculations that it might be announced in the general budget set to be revealed on February 1, 2025. Once the commission is established, it will deliver its report to the central government concerning the rise in salaries and pensions, considering the country’s present economic condition and the overall state of the economy, upon which the government will make the final decision.
Request to raise the fitting factor
Media sources indicate that the National Council of the Joint Advisory Committee has likewise called on the government to raise the fitment factor alongside the 8th Pay Commission. The fitment factor rate in the 7th Pay Commission was 2.57, and there are demands to raise it to 2.86 this time. The Pay Commission is executed based on the fitment factor along with increases in salary and pension.
What will the new salary be with the updated fitment factor?
If you check out the 7th Pay Commission calculations, you’ll see that the minimum basic salary was just 7,000 rupees before it kicked in. With the 7th Pay Commission, the fitment factor jumped to 2.57, which bumped the minimum basic salary up to 18,000 rupees.
So, that means the old basic salary of 7,000 got multiplied by 2.57 to reach 18,000. Now, if the fitment factor goes up to 2.86 in the 8th Pay Commission, the minimum basic salary could soar from 18,000 to 51,480 rupees. That’s nearly a threefold increase!
Big boost in pension
When the 8th Pay Commission rolls out, we can expect a significant rise in pensions, just like with salaries. Right now, the minimum pension stands at 9,000 rupees, but it’s set to jump to 25,740 rupees with the 2.86 fitment factor.
