The Union Cabinet on Wednesday announced that all eligible non-gazetted railway employees will receive a bonus equivalent to their 78 days’ salaries. A move will benefit more than 11.07 lakh non-gazetted staff of the national transporter.
"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB), equivalent to 78 days’ wages, for the financial year 2022-23 for all eligible non-gazetted railway employees," Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said.
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Track keepers, loco pilots, train managers (guards), station masters, supervisors, technicians, technician helpers, pointsmen, ministerial staff, and other Group 'C' workers, with the exception of RPF and RPSF personnel, will benefit from the decision. The payment of the bonus is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 1,968.87 crore, Thakur said.
Railway employees will receive a bonus equivalent to their 78 days’ salaries. (Image: ANI)
"In recognition of an excellent performance by the railway staff, the Union government has approved the payment of a PLB of Rs 1,968.87 crore to 11,07,346 railway employees. The performance of the railways in the year 2022-2023 was very good. The railways loaded a record cargo of 1,509 million tonnes and carried nearly 6.5 billion (650 crore) passengers," an official statement said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
It added that among the factors that contributed to the record performance is an improvement in the infrastructure due to the infusion of capital expenditure by the government in the railways, efficiency in operations and better technology.
According to the statement, the PLB payment will serve as an incentive to encourage railway staff to continue to improve their performance.
(With Inputs From Agencies)