• Source:JND
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The central government has approved the Productivity-Linked Bonus (PLB) for railway employees as a Diwali gift. An amount equivalent to 78 days’ wages will be paid to approximately 11.72 lakh non-gazetted railway employees across the country (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel). The maximum amount payable per eligible employee for 78 days is Rs 17,951.

The bonus will be paid to various categories of railway staff, including track maintainers, loco pilots, train managers (guards), station masters, supervisors, technicians, technician helpers, pointsmen, ministerial staff, and other Group C employees. The PLB serves as an incentive to motivate railway employees to work towards improving the performance of the railways.

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The performance of the Railways in 2023-24 reached a record, transporting 1,588 million tonnes of cargo and nearly 6.7 billion passengers. Several factors contributed to this achievement, including improvements in infrastructure due to a record capital infusion by the government, greater operational efficiency, and the adoption of better technology.

Demand For Bonus Revision

The Indian Railways Employee Federation (IREF) has said that the bonuses are still being calculated based on the sixth pay commission’s minimum salary of Rs 7,000, despite the seventh pay commission increasing the minimum salary to Rs 18,000 in 2016, Sarvjeet Singh, National General Secretary of IREF, told PTI. 

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IREF has called the continued use of the outdated salary for bonus calculations “unfair.” The All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) also criticised the current Rs 7,000 monthly ceiling, describing it as unjustified and urging an update to reflect the current pay structure, according to Business Today. Both federations are pressing the government to revise the bonus in line with employees’ present wages.