8th Pay Commission: Teachers’ body seeks removal of pay anomalies, OPS restoration and higher allowances

The Jammu and Kashmir General Line Teachers Forum (JKGLTF) has submitted a detailed representation to the 8th Central Pay Commission, urging it to address several long-pending issues affecting teachers in the Union Territory. The forum, which is a body under the All India NPS Employee Federation (AINPSEF), has sought measures ranging from the correction of pay anomalies and restoration of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to higher medical and education allowances. These are JKGLTF’s key recommendations to the 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC).

The forum has recommended a fitment factor substantially higher than 2.0 so that it truly reflects prevailing economic realities and restores the purchasing power of government employees. This would improve the financial security and living standards of serving as well as retired employees.

The teachers of Jammu and Kashmir covered under the National Pension System (NPS) continue to face uncertainty regarding their post-retirement f8th Pay Commission: Teachers’ body seeks removal of pay anomalies, OPS restoration and higher allowances.

JKGLTF recommends a one-time process to resolve pay anomalies, guaranteeing that no senior employee receives less pay than their subordinate and that all benefits are provided retrospectively.

This is also owing to the anomaly created by the implementation of the 7th CPC and promotion rules, says JKGLTF. As a result, older instructors with longer service are at a financial disadvantage compared to their juniors, which contradicts the core principles of service jurisprudence and natural fairness, the forum points out.

The forum has recommended two notional increments for all eligible 2019 general line teachers, re-fixation of pay accordingly and extension of all consequential service benefits. It said that such a measure would rectify an unintended hardship and restore equity among 2019 batch general line teachers.

JKGLTF recommended restorating Old Pension Scheme or introducing an equivalent guaranteed pension mechanism for all employees presently covered under NPS.

Teachers of Jammu and Kashmir discharge their duties under difficult terrains, harsh climatic conditions and challenging socio-economic circumstances, the teachers’ body said. The forum has recommended a complete pay and service parity for the teachers of Jammu and Kashmir with their counterparts in other Union Territories.

Persons with disabilities incur additional expenditure on healthcare, rehabilitation and assistive devices throughout their lives, says the forum.

JKGLTF has requested to enhance their disability allowances and transport allowances to provide them with comprehensive medical benefits and additional leave benefits. The forum has also recommended providing them with special tax deductions and exemptions besides providing an assured pension and retirement benefits.

The forum has suggested reducing time for the non-functional promotion of teachers from 9 years to 5 or 6 years. Also, it has requested that teachers who are promoted from the post of teacher to master after availing non-functional promotion be placed in Pay Level-7 (Grade Pay 4600) instead of Pay Level-6A (Grade Pay 4210).

The forum has suggested that the medical allowance be enhanced from Rs 300 per month to Rs 2,000 per month to provide reasonable relief to employees and pensioners against escalating healthcare costs.

The forum says that the existing child education allowance of Rs 2,813 per month is insufficient to meet the actual educational expenditure incurred by employees for their children. It is, therefore, requested that the child education allowance be enhanced to 5,000 per month per child to enable employees to provide quality education to their children.