8th pay commission: Pay scales, risk and hardship allowances, hazard pay — What AIRF is seeking for Railway employees
The All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) has in a letter to the 8th pay commission, after their meeting with the panel during the Mumbai visit, reiterated demands made for Railway employees.
The letter briefed the areas of discussion during the meeting, noting that they have sought higher pay scales and risk allowances, with crucial demands for loco and traffic running staff.
The meeting began with discussions on the general issues such as minimum wage and Railway-specific allowances, while the second part focused on issues related to loco and traffic running staff, the third raised concerns for track maintainers and allied category of P. Way staff, and lastly on issues of technicians across Railway departments, it said.
“It was emphasized that the Indian Railways is unique, which cannot be compared to any other department of Union Government, because Railways operate round-the-clock, 24X7, throughout the year, in all weathers and climatic conditions, at different parts of the country having distinct geographical and environmental conditions,” the letter stated.
The federation added that the Railways are considered to be the “Second Line of Defence” after the Army because of the fact that, during Natural Calamities, war-like situation and Pandemic, it is the Railwaymen and the Indian Railways that serve the Nation on the forefront.
- Higher pay scales: It said that working conditions and other service-related issues of the Railwaymen, particularly in the wake of fast pace of modernization, means they deserve placing in higher pay-scales as skilled workers who either maintain or operate different assets, i.e. rolling stock, signaling and track etc.
- Special Allowances: It also explained that, keeping in view the number of casualties and grievous injuries sustained during the course of employment, Railwaymen across categories should be considered for “Special Allowances” — i.e. Risk & Hardship Allowance, Hazardous Duty Allowance, Hill Allowance and Dress Allowance.
- Treat track maintainers at par with the Technicians of other Engineering Disciplines of the Indian Railways as due to drastic improvement in track geometry and precision, they are required to possess better know-how and technical knowledge.
- Demanded “Certain Specific Allowances” for track maintainers, patrolman, keyman and gateman of the Civil Engineering Department.
- For technicians of all engineering disciplines of the Railways it was demanded that, they should be fairly treated and placed in better pay-scales, besides merger of certain intermediate pay-scales into one, to facilitate better promotional prospects.
- Due to hardship and risk involved in performance of duties, AIRF also demanded adequate Risk & Hardship Allowance and Dress Allowance for all technicians.
Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.<br> As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.<br> Jocelyn's writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers. She thus focuses her news coverage on explainers and FAQs in order to breakdown business, corporate, economic, and policy topics that are of importance to everyday readers.<br> She holds a Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism and Communication and has previously written for online business and markets news site Moneycontrol (Network18), Business-to-business (B2B) trade publications — the industry magazines Power Today and Solar Today (ASAPP Media), and the national news agency United News of India (UNI).<br> Outside of work, Jocelyn keeps up-to-date with local and international news, enjoys reading fiction books, novels and short stories, and enjoys movies, travelling and art. <br> She can be found on X and LinkedIn, and reached by email: <a href="jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in">jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in</a> <br> X/ Twitter handle: <a href="https://x.com/scribeJocelyn">@scribeJocelyn</a> <br> LinkedIn: <a href="https://in.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-fernandes-journalist">LinkedIn</a>
Get Latest real-time updates
Catch all the Instant Personal Loan, Business Loan, Business News, Money news, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More
✕
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.