New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- The 8th Pay Commission has now completed more than 10 months of its allocated 18 months to submit its final report to the central government. The commission, headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, is expected to recommend a new salary structure for serving central government employees and pensioners. One of the key factors that will help in deciding the eventual increase in the basic pay of serving employees is the 'fitment factor'.

It is essential to keep in mind that the fitment factor numbers decided by the 6th and 7th Pay Commissions were 1.86 and 2.57, respectively. These numbers were set to protect the purchasing power of serving government employees and pensioners and to help them meaningfully beat inflati...