Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Thursday the Cabinet has approved a Productivity Linked Bonus of Rs 20.29 billion for Railway employees, benefiting 11,72,240 workers in recognition of their good performance. He also addressed concerns about recruitment, stating that the process for filling 58,642 vacancies is underway, countering opposition claims that present misleadingly small figures regarding employment in the Railways.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, Productivity Linked Bonus for Railway employees of Rs 20.29 billion has been approved by the cabinet for the good performance of railways which will benefit 11,72,240 employees.

Cabinet also approved the modification of the existing Productivity Linked Reward (PLR) Scheme for employees and workers of Major Ports and Dock Labour Boards for the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26. This decision will benefit around 20,704 employees and comes with a total financial outlay of Rs 2 billion. Under the revised PLR scheme, the calculation of rewards will now focus more on port-specific performance rather than an all-India performance, encouraging healthy competition among ports. The weightage for individual port performance will be gradually increased from 50% to 60% by 2025-26, while the all-India performance weightage will be reduced to 40%. The wage ceiling for calculating the bonus has been set at Rs 7,000 per month.

This modification aims to boost productivity, foster competition, and promote better industrial relations in the port sector. The PLR scheme has traditionally been a reward system based on agreements between management and labour unions of Major Port Authorities, offering financial incentives for workers based on annual performance.