Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024–25 on July 23. The Cabinet Secretary has received a significant proposal from the central government employee union that comprises seven key demands.
In a letter dated July 6, the Confederation of Central Govt Employees and Workers outlined their demands for the upcoming budget:
- Establish the 8th Pay Commission immediately.
- Abolish the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and revert to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for all employees.
- Release the 18-month DA/DR arrears that were frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic and restore the commuted portion of the pension after 12 years instead of the current 15 years.
- Eliminate the 5% limit on compassionate appointments and allow these appointments for all dependents of deceased employees.
- Fill all vacant positions in every department and stop outsourcing and contractorization in government sectors.
- Ensure democratic functioning of associations/federations according to the JCM mechanism, including:(A) Grant recognition to pending associations/federations and revoke de-recognition orders for certain unions.(B) Stop enforcing Rule 15 1(c) on service associations/federations.
- Regularize casual and contractual laborers and GDS employees, and grant employees of autonomous bodies the same status as central government employees.
To push for these demands, the confederation plans to hold a demonstration on July 19 during lunch hours.
S B Yadav, general secretary of the Confederation, expressed that they wanted the implementation of the 8th Pay Commission to start from January 2026, emphasizing the need for the commission to be constituted immediately.
The central government is anticipated to announce a DA hike for employees under the existing 7th Pay Commission in the first half of September, which will be retroactive from July 1, 2024. Employees are expecting a 3-4% increase in the upcoming DA hike.
When asked if the government could increase DA beyond the 50% threshold of DA as a percentage of basic pay, a labor affairs expert confirmed that the government could indeed increase the DA beyond 50%. The expert noted that during the 4th Pay Commission, the DA had reached as high as 170%, and the government had provided interim relief as well.