Railway body seeks Rs 18K+DA as minimum bonus ceiling

The Indian Railways Technical Supervisors’ Association (IRTSA) has asked the central government to raise the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) ceiling for non-gazetted Level-1 employees to Rs 18,000 along with dearness allowance (DA). KV Ramesh, Secretary General of IRTSA, sent a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on September 8, pointing out that the current PLB ceiling of Rs 7,000, established in the Financial Year 2014-15, falls short of the 7th Pay Commission levels and the current DA of 60%.

Ramesh explained that under the 7th Pay Commission, the PLB amount for non-gazetted Railway employees remains stagnant at Rs 17,951 since the 6th Pay Commission salary slabs were in effect. If the 60% DA rate were considered, as well as the 7th Pay Commission salary slabs, the PLB would have increased to Rs 27,824. He added that this would benefit approximately 12 lakh Railway employees.

The IRTSA's demand for a higher wage ceiling comes at a time when the National Council – Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), the primary central government employees’ body, recently requested a PLB wage ceiling increase from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 for all non-gazetted employees. The performance-linked bonus (PLB) for central government employees, including non-gazetted Group C and B staff, is calculated based on a wage ceiling of Rs 7,000 since 2014-15. For most central government employees, the bonus amounts to Rs 6,908 under this Rs 7,000 ceiling.