Bonus For Railway Staff: Government Approves Plan For Group C And D Level Employees

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared a proposal to give productivity-linked bonus to railway employees, NDTV reported on Wednesday, qouting sources.

The bonus will be given to Group C and Group D level employees and is meant to recognise their contribution to the efficiency and performance of the vast network. The bonus will be paid as an equivalent to the 78 days of wages.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet was held Wednesday afternoon and the Minister for Information and Broadcasting will address the media about the decisions.

The Indian Railways employs nearly 11 lakh people across the country to run the world's fourth largest network by size. Productivity-linked bonus is paid as an equivalent to the wages of a defined number of days. Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Dusshera holidays.

Railways were the first departmental undertaking of the Government of India wherein the concept of PLB was introduced in the year 1979-80, according to the government.

The main consideration at that time was the important role of the Railways as an infrastructural support in the performance of the economy as a whole. In the overall context of railway working, it was considered desirable to introduce the concept of PLB as against the concept of Bonus on the lines of ‘The Payment of Bonus Act - 1965’.

A bonus for lakhs of railway employees will come as an added incentive in the festive season, besides the cut in GST rates. The government has slashed GST on a range of consumer goods from Sept. 23.

Besides, companies and retailers have announced attractive discounts on most consumer goods to tap into festive demand.