7th Pay Commission: There might be a reduction in allowance of railway employees, details here

There are plans in place to deal the staff of Indian Railways a severe blow. The seven zones have been requested by the Railway Board to assess the compensation for overtime, night shift work, and travel in addition to fuel and maintenance.

What's the reason?

In the quarterly review meeting, Railway Board Chairman VK Tripathi reportedly discovered that operating costs are extremely high. In all seven zones, it has grown far more than the average 26% growth experienced by the Railways during the same period last year in the current fiscal year up to May. The total budget estimate for operations expenses for 2022–2023 is Rs 2.32 lakh crore, according to the railways. The pertinent statistics are tentative because the accounts have not yet been audited.

According to sources, the Railway Board asked the General Managers to create an action plan in this regard and instructed the zones to take urgent measures to minimise their spending during the meeting. There needs to be kilometre allowance regulation in zones like the Eastern Railway (ER), Southern Railway (SR), North Eastern Railway (NER), and Northern Railway (NR).

The workers that run the train receive this compensation. It has been requested that South-East Central Railway (SECR), East-Central Railway (ECR), and East Coast Railway (ECOR) cut back on their night duty allowance costs.