The Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA), in its meeting with the 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC), has demanded an increase in the minimum pay to ₹52,600, a fitment factor of up to 3.80, and better pay levels and allowances for employees. In an official release the employees’ group added it has submitted a comprehensive memorandum to the panel pertaining to the issues.
Here’s what the employee representative group has demanded when it comes to fitment factor and how this could increase salaries of Railway employees.
Demand higher fitment factor based on employee level
IRTSA has demanded higher indexing of fitment factor according to an employee’s level for safety category posts, as follows:
- Wants fitment factor for level 1 post as 2.92 to be adopted,
- Wants fitment factor for posts level 6, 7 and 8 as “2.92 x 1.2 = 3.50” to be adopted.
- Wants fitment factor for mid-position posts in pay levels 9 to 12 as “2.92 x 1.3 = 3.80” to be adopted.
How much salary hike will 3.80 fitment factor provide?
Fitment factor is a mathematical multiplier used by the pay commissions to convert an employee’s pre-revised basic salary (or retirees’ pension payout) into the new, revised basic salary structure.
The primary formula used is: Current basic pay x fitment factor = New basic pay. Thus, under the 7th CPC, where a fitment factor of 2.57 was implemented, basic pay rose from ₹7,000 under the 6th CPC to ₹18,000 as follows: ₹7,000 x 2.57 = ₹18,000
IRTSA has suggested a fitment factor of 3.80. Here’s how that could change salaries:
| Pay Matrix Level | 7th CPC Basic Salary | Demanded under 8th CPC |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | ₹18,000 | ₹52,560 (2.92 fitment factor) |
| Level 2 | ₹19,900 | ₹58,108 (2.92 fitment factor) |
| Level 3 | ₹21,700 | ₹63,364 (2.92 fitment factor) |
| Level 4 | ₹25,500 | ₹74,460 (2.92 fitment factor) |
| Level 5 | ₹29,200 | ₹85,264 (2.92 fitment factor) |
| Level 6 | ₹35,400 | ₹1,23,920 (3.50 fitment factor) |
| Level 7 | ₹44,900 | ₹1,57,150 (3.50 fitment factor) |
| Level 10 | ₹56,100 | ₹2,13,180 (3.80 fitment factor) |
| Level 13 | ₹1,23,100 | ₹4,67,780 (3.80 fitment factor) |
| Level 18 | ₹2,50,000 | ₹9,50,000 (3.80 fitment factor) |
8th CPC discussions ongoing: DA, fitment factor not final
Notably, the 8th CPC discussions are still ongoing, and the fitment factor has not yet been decided. However, multiple groups, industry watchers, and reports estimate the multiplier could range from 2.28 to 3.83.
In the meantime, employees and pensioners are increasingly looking forward to another hike in dearness allowance (DA) in July to combat rising living expenses.
Constituted every 10 years, the latest panel is expected to announce its decisions by mid-2027. At least 1 crore beneficiaries — including around 50 lakh employees and about 65 lakh pensioners are looking forward to a hike in dearness allowance (DA), dearness relief (DR) and fitment factor.
Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association — Other key demands
- Revise the minimum pay to ₹52,600 based on modern economic factors and different fixation factors was demanded.
- Increase the pay levels for Junior Engineers and Senior Section Engineers to better reflect their duties and the hazardous nature of work.
- Classify Senior Section Engineers as Group B Gazetted status.
- Introduce group incentive scheme for open line engineers and staff based on the benchmarks of the Railway Board for various maintenance activities.
- Provide five-grade structure starting from level 7 for Junior Engineers for technical supervisors and disturbance of vertical relativities and horizontal parities with other categories.
- Distribution of Group-A, B and C posts in technical departments of Railways and insufficient Group-B posts, and classification of Senior Section Engineers posts as Group-B.
- Provide allowances related to Technical Supervisors, including night duty allowance, overtime allowance, Production Control Organisation (PCO) Allowance, etc.
- Include training period for the purpose of the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS).
- Address bottlenecks to the promotion to Group B due to a smaller number of Group B posts, unjustified comparison of running staff at lower grade with Technical Supervisors and continuance of the bottleneck at the Group B level.
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