On September 24, 2025, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days' wages for non-gazetted employees of Indian Railways. The total payout is ₹1,865.68 crore and is meant to benefit 10,91,146 railway employees. The decision was taken before Durga Puja and Dussehra, in line with the annual practice of paying PLB to eligible railway employees before these festivals.
The decision matters for both economy and governance preparation. Because this bonus is linked with railway performance, a question can connect this update with employee incentives, service performance and government expenditure. The bonus is only for non-gazetted employees; gazetted officers are outside its coverage. The maximum payable amount for each eligible employee, equivalent to 78 days' wages, is ₹17,951. The covered staff categories include Track maintainers, Loco Pilots, Train Managers, Station Masters, Supervisors, Technicians, Technician Helpers, Pointsman, Ministerial Staff and other Group C staff.
For prelims, the key facts are the Cabinet approval date, the number of beneficiaries, the total payout and the link with railway performance. In 2024-25, Railways loaded 1614.90 million tonnes of cargo and carried nearly 7.3 billion passengers. This update should therefore be read not merely as a festival bonus item, but as a current-affairs point on productivity-based incentives in public services, fiscal commitment by the government and performance of transport infrastructure.