Cabinet Approves a 78-Day Productivity Linked Bonus for 11.4 Lakh Railway Employees

14 October 2026National

The Union Cabinet approved on 14 October a Productivity Linked Bonus equal to 78 days' wages for non-gazetted Indian Railways employees, entailing an outlay of Rs 2,009.61 crore for 11,40,770 staff. The maximum payable per employee is Rs 17,951, calculated on a monthly wage ceiling of Rs 7,000; gazetted officers are excluded. The bonus is released every year before the Durga Puja and Dussehra holidays. The quantum matches the 78 days cleared in September 2025, but the outlay is higher than that year's Rs 1,865.68 crore because the covered workforce rose from 10,91,146, while the per-employee cap stays unchanged.

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The Productivity Linked Bonus was introduced in the Indian Railways in 1979-80 and is paid in lieu of the statutory bonus under the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, which does not cover railway employees | The newest Indian Railways zone is the South Coast Railway, with headquarters at Visakhapatnam | The separate Railway Budget, presented annually since 1924, was merged with the Union Budget from 2017-18

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