Overview

• The Union Cabinet cleared a Productivity Linked Bonus equal to 78 days' wages, totaling ₹1,865.68 crore for 10,91,146 non-gazetted railway staff.
• Each eligible employee will receive up to ₹17,951, covering Group C and Group D categories such as loco pilots, station masters, technicians and track maintainers.
• Payments are scheduled ahead of Durga Puja and Dussehra as part of the Railways’ annual PLB practice that began in 1979–80.
• The government cited strong 2024–25 performance, including a record 1,614.90 million tonnes of freight and about 7.3 billion passengers, to justify the payout.
• Railway federations continue to demand recalculation using seventh pay commission scales, noting last year’s PLB covered 11.72 lakh employees at ₹2,028.57 crore.