8th Pay Commission Update: Railway Technical Staff Demand Higher HRA and Salary Adjustments The 8th Pay Commission has entered an active phase, addressing demands from various central government employee unions, including the Indian Railway Technical Service Association (IRTSA). IRTSA, representing railway technical staff, has raised several key issues during discussions with the commission’s chairperson, Ranjana Prakash Desai, and other officials. The union’s primary demand centers on minimum salary, fitment factors, housing rent allowance (HRA) adjustments, and career progression reforms. IRTSA has emphasized the need to increase the minimum basic salary for railway employees to ₹52,000. Additionally, the union has proposed a range of fitment factors between 2.92 and 4.38 for different pay levels, aiming to address disparities in salary structures. This comes amid ongoing debates about equitable wage distribution across the workforce. The union also reiterated its demand to retain the 5th Pay Commission’s policy of combining 50% Dearness Allowance (DA) with the basic salary. IRTSA has further called for tax relief on DA and proposed higher HRA rates tailored to city populations. Under the 7th Pay Commission, HRA rates were set at 8%, 16%, and 24%, but these were later adjusted to 10%, 20%, and 30% after DA reached 50% in 2024. IRTSA now advocates for a four-tier HRA structure based on city population: 40% for cities with over 5 million residents, 30% for those with 20–50 lakh, 20% for 5–20 lakh, and 10% for cities with fewer than 5 lakh. The union also proposed increasing the Night Duty Allowance and tripling the Transport Allowance.#8th_pay_commission #ranjana_prakash_desai #irtsa #railway_technical_service_association #indian_railway
