As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2024-25 on July 23, there are demands coming in from various sections. This Budget, the central government employee union has also sent a proposal to the Cabinet Secretary comprising 7 demands, including the immediate constitution of the 8th Pay Commission and the release of the 18-month arrears of the COVID-19 period.
In a letter to the Cabinet Secretary on July 6, the Confederation of Central Govt Employees and Workers has made several demands ahead of the Budget 2024:
1) Immediate Constitution of the 8th Pay Commission.
2) Scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS), and Restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for all employees.
3) To release the 18-month DA/ DR which was frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic to employees and pensioners, restoration of commuted part of pension after 12 years instead of 15 years at present.
4) Remove the 5 per cent ceiling on the compassionate appointments, grant compassionate appointments to all the wards/ dependents of the deceased employee.
5) Full up all vacant posts of all the cadres in all departments, stop outsourcing and contractorisation in government departments.
6) Ensure the democratic functioning of association/ federations as per provisions of JCM mechanism.
(A) Grant recognition to associations/ federations which are pending, withdraw the de-recognition orders of Postal Group C Union, NFPE, ISROSA.
(B) Stop imposition of Rule 15 1(c) on service association/ federations.
7) Regularise casual, contractual labourers and GDS employees, grant equal status to employees of autonomous bodies to that of CG employees.
For these demands, the confederation will also conduct a demonstration on July 19 during the lunch hours.
“We want the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission from January 2026. For this, the commission has to be constituted immediately,” said S B Yadav, general secretary of the Confederation.
Upcoming DA Hike Under 7th Pay Commission
The central government is likely to announce the DA hike for the existing 7th Pay Commission employees in the first half of September, which will become effective retrospectively from July 1, 2024. Employees expect a 3-4 per cent hike in the upcoming DA hike.
On asked if the government can increase DA further despite the 50 per cent threshold of DA as a percentage of the basic pay, a labour affairs expert said, “Yes, the government can increase the DA more than 50 per cent also. In the 4th Pay Commission, the DA had reached as high as 170 per cent. However, the government gave interim relief as well.”
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