Central employees and pensioners are awaiting changes in their salary and pension amounts following the 8th Departmental Commission Meeting. Consequently, demands have been put forward that could lead to a significant increase in the minimum wage, although a final decision has not yet been made.
Currently, various employee and pensioner organizations are submitting their requests to the government. According to reports, during recent meetings between the team of the 8th Departmental Commission in Chennai and the trade unions, the All India Federation of Pensioner Associations proposed setting the minimum basic salary at 69,000 rupees. This application is based on a fitment factor of 3.83.
The organizations argue that given inflation and rising family expenses, a substantial salary increase is necessary if the recommendations of the 8th Departmental Commission are implemented after a long delay.
During the 7th Departmental Commission Meeting, the minimum basic salary for central employees was 18,000 rupees. Applying a fitment factor of 3.83 to this amount yields an approximate result of 69,000 rupees. It is based on this calculation that the pensioner organizations demanded a minimum basic salary of 69,000 rupees for the 8th Departmental Commission Meeting. However, this is only one of the demands, not an approved minimum wage.
Several other trade unions have also voiced similar demands. In addition to the minimum basic salary of 69,000 rupees and a fitment factor of about 3.83, organizations such as the National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), AIDEF, FNPO, and AINPSEF have presented similar proposals. Furthermore, BPMS demanded an even higher fitment factor, proposing a minimum wage of 72,000 rupees with a fourfold fitment factor.
The Indian Association of Railway Technical Supervisors submitted a separate proposal, insisting on applying the fitment factor not at a uniform rate but at different levels. For this, they proposed a range of fitment factors from 2.92 to 4.38. The trade unions justify their demands by citing the rise in prices of daily goods and services, as well as increased household expenses, emphasizing the need to account for current family needs in the new pay structure.
Experts believe that while the fitment factor is an important element, it alone does not allow for an assessment of the employee's total income. Changes in salary also depend on allowances, pensions, and other types of payments. Therefore, it is crucial how all these components will be integrated into the final recommendations of the 8th Departmental Commission Meeting.
Reviewing past experience, it is noted that during the 7th Departmental Commission Meeting, NC-JCM requested a fitment factor of 3.71, but the government ultimately approved a factor of 2.57. This demonstrates that the demands of the trade unions and the final figure approved by the government can differ. Therefore, central employees and pensioners should consider 69,000 rupees only as a demand from the organizations, not as an established basic salary. Final changes in the fitment factor, minimum basic salary, allowances, and pensions will depend on the recommendations of the 8th Departmental Commission Meeting and subsequent government approval.
The central government constituted the 8th Departmental Commission Meeting on November 3, 2025, giving it 18 months to prepare and submit a final report. More than ten months of this period have already passed. Now, everyone's attention is focused on the chairperson of the commission, Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, and her team. Based on the current timeline, the commission's report may appear around May-June 2027, after which it will become clearer how much salaries and pensions for employees and pensioners will actually change.
