The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the payment of productivity linked bonus (PLB) to railway employees for the financial year 2021-22, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday.

Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the dussehra/puja holidays. This year too, PLB amount equivalent to 78 days wages has been paid to about 11.27 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees.

The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs 17,951 for 78 days.

The above amount has been paid to various categories, including track maintainers, drivers and guards, station masters, supervisors, technicians, technician helpers, controllers, pointsmen, ministerial staff and other group C' staff.

The financial implication has been estimated to be Rs 1,832.09 crore. The above decision for payment of PLB has been taken despite adverse financial situation caused by post-Covid challenges, a statement from the government said.

The actual number of PLB days paid is more than the days worked out on the basis of defined formulae, it said.

The payment of PLB acts as an incentive to motivate the railway employees for working towards improvement in the performance of the Railways, it added.