The right signal
The Railway Ministry’s decision to restore night allowance is welcome
Early this year, some Railway employees were shocked to see deductions from their salaries on account of the government decision to take away the night allowance from those who had a higher “basic salary”. Railway employees said they would stop working at night if the allowance was withdrawn. This halted the government in its tracks, as it were.
The cut in allowances was a fallout of a government decision (through the Department of Personnel and Training) in November 2020 to remove the night allowance for those with basic salaries of over ₹43,600 or so. “This was to be implemented with effect from July 2017. So, salaries of staff started getting deducted on account of ‘cumulative arrears’, which means all the allowance they had received after July 2017 had to be reversed. Thankfully, the Railway Board has supported the staff,” Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary, All India