Central govt employees push for 8th Pay Commission

The Staff Side of the National Council (JCM), representing central government employees, has formally requested the immediate constitution of the 8th Central Pay Commission. In a letter to the Cabinet Secretary of India, Shiva Gopal Mishra, Secretary of the Staff Side, underscored that the rise in dearness allowance (DA) hasn't been keeping up with inflation. In contrast,  the government's coffers have more than doubled since 2015.The Staff Side is also pushing for scrapping the National Pension System (NPS) in favour of the earlier pension scheme under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021). The letter drove home the point that the pay matrix needs to be revisited and fine-tuned more frequently, using the Aykroyd formula to reflect the changing prices of essentials. Mishra's letter also expressed dissatisfaction with the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission’s recommendations, which came into effect on January 1, 2016.