Cabinet approves bonus equal to 78 days' wage for over 11 lakh railway employees

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a productivity-linked bonus equivalent to 78 days' wage to eligible non-gazetted Railway employees, Union minister Anurag Thakur said.

The bonus for the financial year 2020-21 will benefit about 11.56 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees, he said.

An expenditure of nearly Rs 1,985 crore will be incurred on this.

The bonus is usually announced ahead of Dussehra and Puja festivities. The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to the eligible non-gazetted railway employees is Rs 7000/- p.m.

The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs. 17,951 for 78 days. About 11.56 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees are likely to benefit from the decision.

Railway Board Chairman and COO Suneet Sharma, later at a press conference, said that the bonus will be disbursed as usual before Dussehra.

He said that the payment of these bonuses, specially after a tough year that saw railwaymen battling against coronavirus and still reporting for duty, would encourage them to work harder.

“Many rail employees reported to work despite the fear for their personal welfare. They were frontline workers. This payment of bonus will encourage them to work harder,” said Sharma.

The Productivity Linked Bonus on Railway covers all non-gazetted railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) who are spread over the entire country.

Last year, the Indian Railways had disbursed a bonus worth 78 days' wages to its 11.58 lakh non-gazetted employees after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet had approved disbursal of productivity and non-productivity-linked bonus for 2019-2020 to more than 30 lakh central government employees.