8th Pay Commission: Bill passed to bypass SC verdict on pensioners classification

The Lok Sabha has passed the Finance Bill, which includes amendments to pave the way for the 8th Pay Commission implementation. A key point of contention is a clause that allows for the classification of pensioners based on their retirement date, mirroring a provision in the 6th Pay Commission that was previously overturned by the Supreme Court for being discriminatory.

The bill also grants the government the discretion to decide when the Pay Commission's recommendations will be implemented.

The opposition strongly protested the move, alleging that it is an attempt to deny benefits of the 8th Pay Commission to older pensioners. They subsequently boycotted the voting on the bill.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the amendments, stating that the provisions regarding pensioner classification were initially part of the 6th Pay Commission, approved in March 2008 by the then UPA government, but could not be implemented due to court intervention. She argued that the current bill seeks to reinstate those provisions after 17 years.

During the debate on the bill, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal and RSP MP N.K. Premachandran had criticized the amendment regarding pensioner classification, suggesting it had ulterior motives. Responding to this, the Finance Minister pointed out that when the 7th Pay Commission recommendations were implemented, pension parity was established for those who retired before and after January 1, 2016.

Ultimately, the Lok Sabha rejected amendments proposed by the opposition, including one by N.K. Premachandran. The House approved all 35 government-introduced amendments, which include the discontinuation of the 6% digital tax on online advertisements.

With the passage in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Bill now moves to the Rajya Sabha for its approval. Once passed by the upper house, the budget process for 2025-26 will be complete.