Railway employees to get 78 days wages as bonus

To encourage productivity of railway employees, government approves productivity based bonus

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved 78-day wages as a productivity-linked bonus(PLB) to railway employees.

It would benefit 11 lakh employees and would cost the exchequer around Rs 2,000 crore, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told media after the cabinet meeting.

This is the sixth consecutive year that a productivity-linked bonus is being given to railway employees. The government has never lowered it, said Javadekar

Payment of bonus equivalent to 78 days wages to eligible railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) for 2018-19 would result in motivating a large number of railway employees to improve the performance of the Railways and enhance the productivity levels further, besides maintaining industrial peace, said a statement from the Railway Ministry.

However, railway unions are not happy with the benefit and said that they had expected an enhanced bonus.

"We had discussed this issue with the Railway Board at the appropriate level, wherein we had requested for enhancement in the number of days for payment of PLB on account of enhanced productivity given by the railway employees," a letter from the All India Railwaymen's Federation to the Railway Board chairman stated.

"Railwaymen working under arduous conditions in all the weathers had expected some enhanced PLB this year, but unfortunately, that has not been done," it added.

In the letter, general secretary of All India Railwaymen's Federation Shiva Gopal Mishra said though they appreciate the efforts made by the Ministry of Railways for enhanced PLB to railwaymen, it is their submission that, based on the productivity, the ministry should consider "suitable compensation" to railwaymen for the performance they have given last year.