About 11.58 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees have been granted bonus equivalent to 78 days wages for FY 2019-20 .This Productivity linked bonus to railway employees has been estimated to be of Rs. 2081.68 crores.

The Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 21.10.2020 accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Railways for payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days’ wages for the financial year 2019-2020 for all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel). The financial implication of payment of 78 days’ PLB to railway employees has been estimated to be Rs. 2081.68 crores.  The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to the eligible non-gazetted railway employees is Rs.7000/- p.m.  The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs.17,951 for 78 days. About 11.58 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees are likely to benefit from the decision.

The Productivity Linked Bonus on Railway covers all non-gazetted railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) who are spread over the entire country. Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Dusshera/ Puja holidays.  The decision of the Cabinet shall be implemented before the holidays for this year as well.  For the year 2019-20 PLB equivalent to 78 days’ wages will be paid which is expected to motivate the employees for working towards improving the performance of the Railways.

Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Dusshera/ Puja holidays. The decision of the Cabinet shall be implemented before the holidays for this year as well.

It may be noted that though this payment is being made for last year’s performance i.e. 2019-20 , even this year during COVID period,  a lot of hard work has been put in by Railways employees in movement of shramik specials , for movement of essential commodities including Foodgrains, Fertilizers, Coal etc and completion of more than 200 vital maintenance projects  during lock down period  which would boost safety and all round  efficiency in railway operations.

Even on the freight side there has been major improvement post COVID lock down period. Freight speeds have almost doubled now as compared to last year. Freight loading has also increased by 14% for period of October 2020 as compared to similar period last year.

The payment of the PLB for 2019-20 is expected to motivate the employees for working towards improving the performance of the Railways further. The acknowledgement of their work will enhance the sense of inclusiveness and belongingness in Railway families. It is expected to enhance the productivity levels further.

It is also expected to help in consumer spending and boosting demand during the festive times.

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The provisional payroll data published by EPFO on 20th October 2020 reveals that the subscriber base of EPFO increased by around 20 lakh during the first five months of FY21. Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown across the country had adversely affected the enrolments during the first quarter of the current financial year. However, the provisional payroll figures for the month of July and August 2020 are indicative of the slow dissipation of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and gradual recovery to pre-Covid levels.

During July 2020 around 7.49 lakh net new subscribers were added which is approximately 64% of the net additions made during the corresponding month of previous year ie. July 2019. The enrolment recovery pattern has further improved in August 2020 where net new additions are roughly 93% of the net growth in membership recorded in August 2019. This is suggestive of return to normalcy regarding subscriber base growth for EPFO.

In terms of month-on-month growth, August 2020 recorded a remarkable 34% jump over July 2020 in terms of net new subscribers added. The higher subscriber base growth seen in the month of August 2020 is on account of increased number of new subscribers and lower exits by members. The new subscriber joining has increased from 6.48 lakh in July 2020 to 6.70 lakh in August 2020. In addition, the exits from EPFO subscriber base declined by more than 50%, from 5.08 lakh in July to 2.46 lakh in August 2020.

Around 5.81 lakh members had exited and then rejoined EPFO during August 2020.These subscribers have switched jobs within the establishments covered by EPFO and choose to retain their membership by transferring funds rather than opting for final settlement. The data published comprises of all the new members who have joined during the month and whose contribution has been received.

Age-wise analysis indicates that during August 2020, the maximum numbers of new additions were from the 22-25 years age bracket followed by 18-21 age bracket. The 18-25 age-group members can be considered as first time employees in the work force and have shown strong revival by contributing almost 51% of the new subscribers.

Across the States, comparison of payroll figures reveals that the States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana remain at the forefront of the enrollment recovery cycle adding approximately 57% of the total 21.40 lakh net new subscribers added during the months of June, July and August 2020 combined.

Category-wise analysis of industry indicates ‘expert services’ category (which primarily includes manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors) has been the most resilient as far as recovery is concerned, contributing a combined net payroll figure of 11.20 lakh for the month of June, July and August 2020, which is approximately 63% of the total net payroll for these three months for the top ten industry categories.

EPFO is country’s principal organization responsible for offering social security benefits to the organized/ semi-organized sector workforce and thereby touching millions of lives. It offers its members a myriad number of services, including provident fund, insurance and pension not only to its members but also to their families. The payroll data is provisional since updating of employee records is a continuous process and accordingly gets updated on a month on month basis.

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This approval is in addition to the existing scheme for the wage months of March to May, 2020 approved on 15.04.2020.  The total estimated expenditure is of Rs.4,860 crore.  Over 72 lakh employees in 3.67 lakh establishments will be benefitted.
Salient Features:
The salient features of the proposal are as under:

For the wage months of June, July and August, 2020, the scheme will cover all the establishments having upto 100 employees and 90% of such employees earning less than Rs. 15,000 monthly wage.

About 72.22 lakh workers working in 3.67 lakh establishments will be benefited and would likely to continue on their payrolls despite disruptions.

Government will provide Budgetary Support of Rs.4800 crore for the year 2020-21 for this purpose.

The beneficiaries entitled for 12% employers’ contribution for the months of June to August, 2020 under Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) will be excluded to prevent overlapping benefit.

Due to prolonged lockdown, it was felt that businesses continue to face financial crisis as they get back to work. Therefore, the Hon’ble FM, as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, announced on 13.5.2020 that the EPF support for business and workers will be extended by another 3 months viz. for the wage months of June, July, and August, 2020.

The steps taken by the Government from time to time to ameliorate the hardships faced by the low paid workers are well accepted by the stakeholders.

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