Members of the Maharashtra Old Pension Organization had a meeting with the 8th Pay Commission chairperson Ranjana Prakash Desai, along with other members in Pune on Tuesday (May 5, 2026). They pushed for a minimum basic salary of Rs 65,000 and a fitment factor of 3.8 for all central government employees under the 8th CPC.
They also had several other requests, including a guaranteed minimum 4% increase in dearness allowance (DA), raising the limits for house rent allowance (HRA) and travel allowance (TA), quicker career progression, and extending pay commission benefits to those enrolled in the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).
Vinayak Chauthe, head, IT cell, Maharashtra pension body, told ET Wealth Online that the meeting with the 8th CPC went on for half an hour where issues related to employee salary, pension, allowance, career progression and work conditions were discussed.
Let's take you through the 10 key demands raised by the Maharashtra pension body.
1) Change in the definition of family unit
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 including parents in the current family unit count and bumping it up to five members in the 8th Pay Commission report, increasing it from the current count of 3.
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 needs.
2) Demand for a minimum wage of Rs 65,000
One of the key demands being raised is a sharp increase in the minimum wage, from the current entry-level basic pay of Rs 18,000 to Rs 65,000.
The old pension body says it has recommended the minimum pay based on the Aykroyd formula and a realistic family unit.
3) Demand for fitment factor of 3.8
The Maharashtra pension body says there is also a demand to increase the fitment factor to 3.8, up from 2.57 under the 7th Pay Commission.
The Maharashtra pension body says the fitment factor of 3.8 should be adopted to ensure a meaningful wage revision while maintaining fiscal balance.
4) Determination of minimum DA increase
The Maharashtra pension body says the current DA system does not guarantee a minimum increase and often lags behind actual inflation.
It has asked for a minimum 4% increase in each DA revision, and to automatically merge DA with basic pay at 50%.
5) Reforms and increase in HRA rates
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.
6) Increase in travel allowance (TA)
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 current rates are no longer adequate given the rise in transportation costs and overall inflation.
7) Increase in special incentive allowance for hard stations/PESA areas
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.
8) Apply 10,20,30 career progression scheme for teachers
There is also a demand to extend the 10-20-30 scheme to teachers, which typically provides financial upgradations or career progression benefits after 10, 20 and 30 years of service. The pension body has demanded the 8th Pay Commission to change the current scheme of 12-24-26 where career progression takes place after 12, 24 and 26 years of service, respectively.
The pension body has recommended that at the time of financial upgradation, one notional increment should first be granted in the existing pay level. Thereafter, pay should be fixed in the next higher level.
9) Annual Increment from 3% to 5%
One of the key demands raised by the Maharashtra old pension body is to increase the annual increment of employees from 3% to 5%. It also said that revised basic pay should be rounded off to the next Rs 1,000.
10) Pension Reforms (OPS, NPS, UPS)
The Maharashtra pension body has demanded 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 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.
The pension body also wants an enhanced family pension to be continued for the entire lifetime of the family pensioner.
The Maharashtra pension body says additional pension currently starts from the age of 80 years, which is too late considering rising medical expenses and dependency.
It says additional pension should start from 75 years of age with revised structure:
| Age | Pension increase |
| 75 years | 20% |
| 80 years | 30% |
| 85 years | 40% |
| 90 years | 50% |
| 95 years | 75% |
| 100 years | 100% |
