NEW DELHI: The ministry of railways on Wednesday accepted a long-standing demand of thousands of employees for a hike in their salaries. The ministry has notified the provision for upgradation in pay and grades of over 80,000 supervisory-cadre employees working in 68 divisions under 17 zones of Indian Railways, after obtaining clearance from the Prime Minister’s Office and the finance ministry.
After this revision, the employees will get an average increase of Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 in their salaries.
Announcing the decision, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “With the implementation of this new scope for pay-upgradation along with grades, all these employees will go up to the Levels of 7, 8 and 9, respectively and treated equivalent to Group A during their service tenure.” He added that the new provision has been notified with effect from November 16.
It will be implemented in the next few months across the railways. The pay upgradation will act as a great morale booster for the employees, who are making all efforts to make the organisation one of the best and fastest transporters in the world, Vaishnaw told this newspaper.
Hailing it as the first such system being implemented across the railways, the minister added that the decision is the most ‘finance-neutral’ one ever taken in the organisation for its employees who work as its backbone.
According to an official source, more than 80,000 supervisory-cadre employees are working for maintenance of routes along 67,956 km, running 13,169 passengers and 8,479 freight trains daily, covering 7,325 stations in various working grades in the country.
On Track
The decision to benefit over 80,000 railway employees working in the supervisory cadre. They handle rail routes along 67,956 km length, running 13,169 passengers and 8,479 freight trains daily, covering 7,325 stations across India
Average hike of Rs 2,500-4,000 in salary