Railways operating record-breaking 9,111 trips during summer season of 2024
This marks a substantial rise compared to the summer of 2023, where a total of 6,369 trips were offered.
Railway employees bonus: Over 11 lakh employees of the Indian Railways will receive a 78-day bonus before Dussehra for a record-breaking twelfth consecutive year. For the past 11 years, the national transporter has granted eligible non-gazetted railway staff a productivity-linked bonus (PLB) equal to 78 days of payment.
The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to eligible non-gazetted railway employees is Rs 7,000 per month. The 78-day pay packet is likely to be Rs 17,951 for an eligible railway employee. The Railway Board has put forward the proposal of a 78-day bonus to the Centre, and the Union cabinet is slated to approve it this week.
The bonus for the financial year 2021-22 will benefit about 1.156 million non-gazetted railway employees. An expenditure of nearly Rs 2,000 crore will be incurred on this.
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However, railway unions were expecting a bit more bonus this year than the usual 78-day pay.
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) general secretary M Raghvaiah in a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has requested more days of wages towards payment of PL bonus than the previous years in order to motivate all sections of railway employees to continue to work with greater determination for achieving many more milestones.
“The Indian Railways have performed significantly in freight loading during the year 2021-22. The freight loading achieved during the year 2021-22 was over 1,418 million tonnes. This significant performance of railways has been on account of dedication and devotion on the part of railway employees,” the letter said.
According to NFIR, the existing rail staff took on the additional workload and worked extremely well in order to fill the over 2 lakh vacant positions, which cleared the path for collecting more revenue.
In light of the best-ever performance of Indian Railways, the railway workers are hopeful that the government will announce the payment of PL bonus bigger than in prior years this time and ensure that payment is made before the start of Dussehra, according to NFIR.
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