The Central Government has sanctioned a bonus of ₹2,028.57 crore for over 11.72 lakh employees of Indian Railways. This performance-linked bonus (PLB) will be paid to various non-gazetted categories, including track maintainers, loco pilots, station masters, train managers, and technicians. The announcement was made by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw following the Union Cabinet’s approval, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This PLB will serve as an incentive for railway staff, encouraging them to contribute to the ongoing improvements in the railways. Each employee is expected to receive a maximum payout of ₹17,951 under the bonus scheme.
However, the railway unions have expressed dissatisfaction with the calculation method for this year’s bonus. They argue that the bonus is still calculated under the Sixth Pay Commission, which sets the base salary at ₹7,000. The Seventh Pay Commission raised the minimum salary to ₹18,000, and the unions are demanding that the bonus should be aligned with this updated scale.
Sarvjeet Singh, National General Secretary of the Indian Railway Employees Federation (IREF), pointed out that the current bonus is unfairly calculated based on outdated pay scales. “Our productivity bonus remains tied to the Sixth Pay Commission, which no longer reflects the actual salary structure. It’s unjust,” Singh remarked. He highlighted that the unions have called for the bonus amount to be updated to ₹46,159 per employee in line with the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations.
Alok Chandra Prakash, General Secretary of the Indian Railway Signal & Telecommunication Maintainers Union (IRSTMU), also voiced concerns about the increased workload on railway staff, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when services continued despite lockdowns.
Railway unions, including the IREF and IRSTMU, have launched a social media campaign urging the government to update the bonus structure. Satish Yadav, General Secretary of the All India Railway Track Maintainers Union (AIRTU), emphasized the demanding nature of railway work and called for the Ministry to consider revising the pay scale to boost employee morale.
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