8th Pay Commission Maharashtra pension body demands: This body demands 2.5 times hike in travel allowance, seeks higher HRA rates; Check latest news on 8th CPC

Several major demands related to salary structure, pension benefits and employee allowances have been placed before the 8th Pay Commission by the Maharashtra pension body. The organisation has sought wide-ranging reforms from the 8th CPC, including the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), higher house rent allowance (HRA), a sharp increase in travel allowance (TA), revision in the family unit definition for minimum wage calculation and better benefits for employees working in difficult areas. The body has also recommended changes in additional pension rules for senior pensioners and demanded guaranteed returns under the National Pension System (NPS).

As the count of family units is an extremely important subject while determining the minimum wage and the fitment factor for employees in a pay commission, the Maharashtra pension body has demanded to include parents in the current family unit count and bumping it from three to five members in the 8th Pay Commission report.

The pension body says the family unit should be revised to 5 consumption units (Employee: 1, spouse: 1, two children: 1, parents: 2) to ensure a realistic assessment of minimum need

The Maharashtra pension body has also demanded to end the linkage of HRA with DA and increase the current HRA rates of 10%, 20% and 30% to 12%, 24%, 36% for X, Y and Z category cities, respectively.

Another key demand raised by the Maharashtra pension body is a significant hike in TA. It has proposed increasing TA by 2.5 times, arguing that the current rates are no longer adequate given the rise in transportation costs and overall inflation.

The pension body says employees working in tribal, PESA and Naxal-affected regions face extreme hardship, lack of infrastructure and security risks, but are not adequately compensated.

It says hard area allowance should be significantly increased for such employees.

The Maharashtra pension body has demanded the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for nearly 85 lakh employees currently covered under the National Pension System (NPS) across the country.

For NPS, it says the government should provide a minimum guaranteed return of 10% and increase the employer contribution to 18.5%.

For UPS, the Maharashtra old pension body has recommended that the government should return employee contributions and ensure 50% pension of the last-drawn pay. It has also recommended UPS pension to be linked to pay commissions to ensure a substantial raise.

75 years: 20% additional pension
80 years: 30% additional pension
85 years: 40% additional pension
90 years: 50% additional pension
95 years: 75% additional pension
100 years: 100% additional pension