Railway Employees Demand Productivity-linked Bonus

New Delhi: A section of railway employees have written to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw , demanding the productivity-linked bonus they receive each year before Dussehra should be calculated based on the Seventh Pay Commission instead of the sixth.

In the letter to Vaishnaw, National General Secretary of Indian Railways Employee Federation (IREF) Sarvjeet Singh said the minimum payment of productivity-linked bonus (PLB) is being made based on the minimum salary of Rs 7,000 per month of the Sixth Pay Commission.

But under the Seventh Pay Commission, the minimum salary is Rs 18000, which the railway employees are getting from January l, 2016, he said.

"So, paying PLB on the basis of the minimum salary of Rs 7000 per month of the Sixth Pay Commission is sheer injustice and exploitation of the Railway employees,” Singh added.

Several employees who are members of the IREF said during the countrywide lockdowns forced by the Covid pandemic, everybody was afraid to step out of their houses, but railway employees successfully operated trains and registered a sharp increase in the railways' earnings as is evident in the quarterly bulletin of the railways.

IREF said that according to government norms, railway employees should get a productivity-linked bonus equal to 78 days' salary. But the payment made is Rs 17,951 on a monthly pay scale of Rs 7,000, which is not the monthly salary of any railway employee.

"The minimum monthly basic salary in the railways is Rs 18,000. Thus, the 78-day bonus of Rs 17,951 is less than the monthly minimum salary. This creates suspicion in the market. As per the minimum monthly salary of Rs 18,000, the 78-day bonus amounts to Rs 46,159," Singh said.

In the letter to the minister, he said, "Indian Railway Employees Federation requests you to pay productivity linked bonus to all railway employees as per the pay scales of the Seventh Pay Commission so that railway employees can celebrate the festival with happiness and enthusiasm and continue to make their important contribution to the progress of production, operation and maintenance of railways." 

With PTI Inputs