8th CPC: 5 NC-JCM demands & impact on payouts

The National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), the central government employees’ body, submitted a memorandum to the 8th Pay Commission demanding several changes in pay, pension, allowances and service conditions for over one crore central government employees and pensioners. Five key demands stand out:

1. The NC-JCM recommends raising the minimum salary of a central government employee from Rs 18,000 to Rs 69,000, which would entail a 3.833-fold increase and a 3.833 fitment factor. This proposal would affect the pay levels of employees across all pay scales, with the lowest level seeing a significant jump in minimum pay.

2. The employee body also wants a pension equivalent to 67% of the last pay drawn and family pension equivalent to 50% of the last pay drawn. This would be a substantial increase from the current pension and family pension rates of 50% and 30% of the last pay drawn, respectively.

3. The NC-JCM has suggested increasing the annual increment rate from 3% to 6%, a change that could significantly impact the total pay of employees over a decade. For instance, a Level 4 employee with a basic pay of Rs 25,500 could see an extra Rs 11,03,290 over 10 years with a 6% annual increment compared to a 3% increment.

4. The NC-JCM proposes raising the House Rent Allowance (HRA) slabs to 30%, 35% and 40% for X, Y and Z city categories, respectively. This would increase the HRA amount for a Level 5 employee with a basic pay of Rs 29,200 from Rs 21,840 to Rs 24,528 under the proposed rates.

5. Finally, the employee body recommends increasing the leave encashment at retirement from a maximum of 300 days to 600 days. For an employee retiring with a basic pay of Rs 50,000, this could increase the leave encashment by Rs 11,85,000.