Cabinet approves productivity linked bonus for Railway employees

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday asserted that the Cabinet has approved payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) for Railway Employees, before Dussehra or Puja Festival season.

"Incentive to Improve Productivity and Efficiency of Railways PLB equivalent to 78 days' wages for the financial year 2016-17 to be given to eligible non-gazetted railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel)," he said while addressing the media.

About 12.30 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees are likely to benefit from this.

The Cabinet has also approved revamp of the scheme, "Khelo India - National Programme for Development of Sports."

An estimated outlay of Rs. 1756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

While addressing the media in the Cabinet meeting today, Independent charge for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, "The programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development, economic development and national development."

The revamped Khelo India Programme would "impact the entire sports ecosystem," including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy, the Minister briefed.

"Each athlete selected under the scheme shall receive an annual scholarship worth Rs 5 lakh for 8 consecutive years," Rathore said.

This would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive.

In a crucial move, the Cabinet has also approved the extension of time period "Udaan" a "Special Industry Initiative for Jammu and Kashmir," till December 31, 2018 without any modification and cost escalation.

Udaan is a scheme that provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of the corporate India and to corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State, while the Initial time period of Udaan was up to 2016-2017.