Cabinet’s bonus announcement will act as an incentive to motivate employees to keep improving the performance of the Railways
Cabinet approves 78-day bonus for railway employees: Good news for railway employees. The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a productivity linked bonus(PLB) equivalent to 78 day’s wages for around 11.4 lakh railway employees. Each eligible employee is set to receive a maximum of Rs 17, 951 ahead of the festive season.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a bonus meant for non-gazetted railway employees. The maximum payable to an eligible employee is Rs 17,951 for 78 days, with the Cabinet approving a payout of around Rs 2,009 crore.
It covers a wide range of jobs, including:
– Track maintainers
– Loco pilots
– Train managers (guards)
– Station masters
– Supervisors
– Technicians and technician helpers
– Pointsmen
– Ministerial staff
– Other Group ‘C’ staff
The Cabinet said this year’s approval is in recognition of the excellent performance of railway staff. The bonus is also meant to act as an incentive to motivate employees to keep improving the performance of the Railways. The Railways performed very well in 2025-26. It loaded a record 1,670 million tonnes of cargo and carried nearly 7.41 billion passengers.
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The existing PLB calculation uses a wage ceiling of Rs 7,000 and a period of 78 days, resulting in a maximum bonus of Rs 17,951 for eligible non-gazetted railway employees. The ceiling has remained unchanged since 2014-15.
The Cabinet also approved the expansion of the social security net for weaker sections until 2031, with an outlay of Rs 53,428 crore. The eligibility threshold for persons with disabilities has been lowered to 40% from 80%.
