The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval for payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) to railway employees for the financial year 2021-22.
Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Dusshera/Puja holidays. This year also, PLB amount equivalent to 78 days wages has been paid to about 1.13 million non-gazetted railway employees. The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs17,951 for 78 days.
The eligible employees belonged to various categories, viz, Track maintainers, Drivers and Guards, Station masters, Supervisors, Technicians, Technician Helpers, controller, Pointsmen, ministerial staff and other Group ‘C’ staff.
The payment of productivity-linked bonus to railway employees has financial implication of an estimated Rs1832 crore on the Railways. The above decision for payment of PLB has been taken despite adverse financial situation caused by post Covid-19 challenges.
The actual number of PLB days paid is more than the days worked out on the basis of defined formulae. The payment of PLB acts as an incentive to motivate the employees for working towards improvement in the performance of the Railways, says a railway ministry release.