New Delhi. Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), has strongly demanded a change in the formula of the 8th Pay Commission (8th Central Pay Commission). He appealed to the Pay Commission that this time while determining the minimum salary, the needs of the 5 members of the family should be made the basis, and not the salary should be calculated on the old 3 units (3-unit Norm).

In such a situation, the only question revolving in the mind of every government employee is what is this 3 unit formula, which becomes the basis of salary increase.

Amarjeet Kaur said that every family not only consists of husband, wife and two children, but also elderly parents. It is the legal and moral duty of children to take care of their parents. Therefore, while fixing the minimum wage, the government should keep in mind the needs of a 5-member family, so that the employee can maintain the entire family well. He also added that there should be no discrimination against retired pensioners. The same changes should be made in their pension as are being made in the salaries of existing employees. AITUC demands that this pension amendment should be implemented from January 1, 2006, so that everyone gets equal benefits.

Demand for old pension also raised The organization also said that the government should restart the old pension scheme. Currently, about 24 lakh central government employees are under the National Pension System (NPS), in which they have to contribute from their own salary. This was not the case in the old scheme. AITUC wants that OPS should be implemented retroactively from January 1, 2004, so that these employees also get the old benefits. These demands of AITUC clearly say that both government employees and pensioners should get a decent salary for living, equal pension and a secure future. This will not only make their families happy, but the working class of the country will also get the right to live a respectable life.

What is 3 unit formula? The 3 unit formula for the Pay Commission is a standard that is used to decide the minimum salary of an employee. When the Commission fixes the salary based on the needs of the family, it considers how many members there will be in an average family and what will be the needs of each one. In this formula, every member is counted as a unit, so that an accurate estimate of the amount of income required for the entire family can be made.

How is the unit determined? Under the Pay Commission formula…

The earning person of the family i.e. the employee is considered as one unit.

Dependent family member wife or husband is considered as 0.8 units.

One child in the family is considered to be 0.6 units and if there are two children, it is considered to be 1.20 units.

In this way, a family of four members is considered as 3 units in total.

On the basis of this unit, the expenses for needs like food, clothes, house, education and health are added.

Why is there demand for 5 unit formula? AITUC General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur says that the 3 unit formula is now outdated and does not match today’s social structure. In most Indian families, there are not only husband, wife and two children, but also elderly parents, whose responsibilities are on the children. He said that if children support the parents, then while determining the salary the family should be considered as 5 members or 5 units. If the salary is calculated on this basis then the employees will not face any problem in meeting the expenses.