8th Pay Commission NC-JCM demands: 10 demands NC-JCM has raised for pensioners

The drafting committee of National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery (Staff side) NC-JCM has submitted a 51-page common memorandum to the 8th Pay Commission, outlining demands of central government employees and pensioners from the 8th CPC. Some of the key highlights for pensioners in the memorandum submitted on April 13, 2026, include the same fitment factor of 3.833 for employees and pensioners, a gratuity amount up to Rs 75 lakh, one-rank-one-pension scheme, reduced pension commutation period, merger of dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) with basic pay once they reach 25%, extended Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) facilities for employees and pensioners, etc. Here are the 10 key demands for the pensioners raised by the drafting committee of NC-JCM in its common memorandum to the 8th Pay Commission.

According to NC-JCM, pensioners should start receiving arrears from January 1, 2026, and employees and pensioners should have the same fitment factor of 3.833. On December 31, 2025, the term of the 7th Pay Commission ended.

The NC-JCM drafting committee has advocated for a pension scheme for civilian employees on the lines of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme. It means that employees who resigned before 2016, as well as those who will retire later, will receive the same pension if their designation at the time of retirement was the same.

The drafting committee has suggested that the 8th Pay Commission abolish the National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) schemes while reintroducing Old Pension Scheme (OPS). They contend that NPS has already made social security in old age unstable and subject to market factors. The central government implemented NPS on January 1, 2004, while UPS came into effect on April 1, 2025.

NC-JCM has demanded that the maximum gratuity limit should be raised from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 75 lakh in light of the current salaries and inflation.
It further says gratuity should be calculated on the basis of 25 effective working days instead of 30 days in a month. The committee also urges the 8th Pay Commission to remove the existing gratuity ceiling of 16.5 times the emoluments.

NC-JCM has advised reducing the pension restoration period after commutation from 15 to 11 years. Currently, employees at the time of retirement can commute up to 40% of their pension as a lump sum amount. This means they will earn a lesser pension for 15 years. The drafting committee intends to shorten this timeframe.

The drafting committee has suggested to the 8th Pay Commission that a full pension should be increased to 67% from 50% of the last pay drawn or the average of the last 10 months of emoluments.

As far as family pension is concerned, the drafting committee wants it to increase from 30% of the last pay drawn to 50%.

It has also asked to increase the enhanced family pension period up to 70 years of age.

The drafting committee has suggested the following arrangement for the consideration of the 8" CPC, citing a Parliamentary Standing Committee's recommendation that pensioners receive an extra pension of 5% every five years after superannuation.

Age 65 years: 70% of last pay drawn (LPD)

Age 70 years: 75% of Last Pay Drawn (LPD)

Age 75 years: 80% of Last Pay Drawn (LPD)

Age 80 years: 85% of Last Pay Drawn (LPD)
Age 85 years: 90% of Last Pay Drawn (LPD)

Age 90 years: 100% of Last Pay Drawn (LPD)

The drafting committee has recommended that when DA and DR reach 25%, it should be merged with the basic pay in the 8th Pay Commission. So far, there is no concept of the merger of basic pay with DA or DR. The benefit of such a merger is that DR is given on the basic pay. After a merger, the basic pay will rise, as a result, the DR hike will be of a higher amount.

Employees who retire can encash up to 300 days of leave. The drafting committee has proposed increasing the encashment limit to 600 days. It states that a government employee may be able to cash out a portion of such accumulated leave, say 50%, to satisfy certain financial obligations if he or she has served for 20 years or more.

The drafting committee has recommended the expansion of CGHS facilities to 150 cities in India from 81 cities at present. Cashless treatment facilities should be extended to employees covered under CGHS and CSMA Rules and also to pensioners, as per 8th CPC recommendations.