Notice to Rly Board from ticket checking staff

gpur: Indian Railway Ticket Checking Staff Organization has sent a legal notice to Railway Board challenging discontinuation of night allowance for the staff having basic salary of over Rs43,600 from September last year.
Counsel for the organization argued that night duty allowance was part of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and had not been discontinued over the several decades since 1970s.
The notice also termed the decision of the board as violative of Article 14 of the Constitution and discriminatory in nature. It also underlined the fact that due to non-payment of night allowance, the employees were suffering.
Demanding removal of the basic pay ceiling, the notice claimed that the board was denying the legally entitled benefits to the staffers who are performing their duties even after the allowance has been withdrawn.
The notice also pointed out to the board that it was the decision of the tribunal in 1972 to pay the railway staffers night allowance irrespective of the pay limits or any other classifications, but the same was discontinued last year.
Even when the issue was referred to a committee to decide on allowances in 2017, the panel had decided in the favour of the railway employees and asked the Seventh Pay Commission to keep the structure of the night allowance unchanged.