New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS): The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday approved payment of productivity-linked bonus (PLB) of 78 days, amounting to Rs 2,028.57 crore, to 11,72,240 railway employees.

The amount will be paid to various categories of railway staff.

The payment of PLB acts as an incentive to motivate the railway employees for working towards improvement in the performance of the Railways.

"Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Durga Puja/Dussehra holidays. This year too, PLB amount equivalent to 78 days' wages is being paid to about 11.72 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees," a Cabinet communique said.

The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs 17,951 for 78 days.

In 2023-2024, Indian Railways loaded a record cargo of 1,588 million tonnes and carried nearly 6.7 billion passengers.

The Cabinet also approved the modification of the existing Productivity Linked Reward (PLR) scheme for the major ports and dock labour board employees/workers from 2020-21 to 2025-26. The modified scheme (applicable from 2020-21 to 2025-26) will benefit about 20,704 employees of major port authorities and dock labour board employees with an outlay of about Rs 200 crore.

The PLR has been calculated on the wage ceiling for the calculation of the bonus at Rs 7,000 per month. According to the Cabinet, PLR would be paid annually by enhancing the port-specific performance weightage from 50 per cent to 55 per cent and further increasing to 60 per cent. The all-India port performance weightage will also come down to 40 per cent over a period till 2025-26 The PLR scheme will foster better industrial relationships and a congenial work atmosphere in the port sector, apart from stimulating better productivity, said the government.