8th Pay Commission: ₹72,000 minimum pay, 4x fitment factor listed in Defence Employees' federation proposal - Details

A defence employees' federation, the Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS), had recommended a revision in the monthly salary of central government employees , with the minimum monthly salary to be increased to ₹ 72,000 under the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC). This would mark a 300 per cent hike from the current minimum pay of ₹ 18,000 set by the 7th CPC.

On 16 April, the BPMS floated the proposal as a draft. It was circulated by BPMS General Secretary Rabindra Kr Mishra and covered minimum pay, the fitment factor, annual increments and a proposed pay matrix.

The proposal is based on a three-step formula that links salary revision to growth in per capita national income, increases the assumed family size from three to five members, and factors in fiscal moderation to arrive at what the federation called a "prudent, sustainable, and socially just benchmark."

The draft proposal invoked the methodology used by the 5th Central Pay Commission, which adopted what was called a "modified version of the Constant Relative Income Criterion."

The defence employees' federation argued, "The revision of pay scales should be guided by objective economic indicators and prevailing socio-economic conditions," and selected the growth in Per Capita Net National Product (NNP) as its benchmark.

The proposal cited data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation ( MoSPI ) and stated, "The Per Capita Net National Income at current prices has increased from ₹ 1,03,219 in 2016-17 to ₹ 1,92,774 in 2024-25. This reflects an increase of approximately 86.76% over the period."

Percentage increase: ( ₹ 89,555 ÷ ₹ 1,03,219) × 100 = 86.76% (approximately)

The 86.76 per cent growth factor is applied to the existing minimum pay determined by the 7th CPC, following which the document calculates a revised minimum pay of ₹ 53,114.54, as below:

Simply put, the ₹ 18,000 basic pay is first combined with the 58 per cent dearness allowance to reach ₹ 28,440. Applying the calculated 86.76 per cent increase to this amount adds ₹ 24,674.54, resulting in a revised minimum pay of ₹ 53,114.54.

According to the report, the 7th CPC based its minimum salary calculation on a three-unit family structure. However, the BPMS proposal argued that this "does not adequately reflect the prevailing Indian socio-cultural framework," noting that "a government employee is generally responsible not only for the spouse and children but also for dependent parents."

Under the BPMS proposal, the federation suggested a five-unit family structure, with the government servant being described as one unit, the spouse as another, two minor children as 1.5 units (0.75 each), and parents as 1.5 units (0.75 each).

Using the revised structure, the revised minimum pay was calculated as follows:

Rather than recommending the entire calculated amount, the proposal suggests setting the minimum pay at a more measured level. BPMS said, “Instead of adopting the full computed figure of ₹ 88,524.24, a calibrated level of ₹ 72,000 per month may be considered appropriate. This figure represents a balanced midpoint between the existing pay structure and the fully justified requirement."

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