Rs 10,000 cr bonus for railway employees

After a series of decisions aimed at pushing its economic reforms, the UPA government is set to focus on a slew of pro-people measures. The Union cabinet will discuss a proposal to shower Rs 10,025 crore as bonus on railway employees in its meeting on Thursday.

After a series of decisions aimed at pushing its economic reforms, the UPA government is set to focus on a slew of pro-people measures. The Union cabinet will discuss a proposal to shower Rs 10,025 crore as bonus on railway employees in its meeting on Thursday.

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The proposal for disbursing productivity-linked bonus will benefit almost 12.37 lakh employees of the Indian Railways — the biggest government employer. If the plan gets approved, each railway employee will get almost Rs 9,000 as bonus for 2011-12. The proposal, seen as one of the biggest sops for government employees, also comes after the exit of Trinamool Congress member Mukul Roy as railway minister.

The cabinet is also set to increase its expenses on the national social assistance programme (NSAP). The proposal is to double the amount of monthly financial assistance to widows, disabled and other vulnerable sections of the society.

According to the proposal, the Indira Gandhi Widow Pension will be hiked from Rs 200 to Rs 300. Also, if the sole bread earner of a poor family became disabled, the government used to provide a one-time grant of R10,000 apart from a monthly pension. The cabinet seeks to double the grant.