New Delhi: Amidst a lot of ongoing speculations among the central government employees regarding the update on the 8th Central Pay Commission, MP Ram Nath Thakur raised pertinent questions during the Rajya Sabha session on July 25, 2023. The focus of the inquiries was on matters concerning the pay and pension for Central employees.
The MP asked whether between January 2016 and January 2023, the pay and pension of Central employees increased by just 42 percent, whereas, over this same period, the per capita income of country had climbed by 111 percent.
Responding to the querry, Minister Of State For Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) is paid to Central Government employees and pensioners to compensate them for erosion in the real value of their pay and pension on account of inflation. These rates were increased to 42% of the pay and pension in January, 2023. The rates of DA/DR are revised periodically at every six months on the basis of All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW).
The MoS Finance responding to another question whether as recommended by last three Central Pay Commissions, future pay revision should be done when DA/DR reaches 50 per cent or more than basic pay to neutralize the impact of inflation said there is no such proposal as of now.
Another big update on the setting up of the 8th pay commission was also given by Pankaj Chaudhary. The question was raised in the Rajya Sabha as the rate of DA/DR is projected to cross 50 percent or even more from January 2024, whether the Central Government proposed to set up Eighth Central Pay Commission or not.
Chaudhary, responding to the the above question said that there is no such proposal is under consideration of the Government.
