Cabinet approves ₹2,009 crore Diwali bonus for railway employees, ₹53,428 crore for welfare | Today’s news
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a ₹2,009.61 crore productivity-linked bonus to 1.14 million railway employees and extended the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) for five years from 2026-27 to 2030-31 with an outlay of ₹53,428 crore as the government moves to pay railway workers and extend social security.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw described the 78-day bonus as a Deepawali gift to employees, with every eligible blind employee entitled to the maximum pay ₹17,951. The bonus will be used by 11,40,770 employees, including track maintenance workers, locomotive pilots, train conductors, station masters, technicians, switchers, supervisors and ministerial employees.
The payout takes into account the performance of Indian Railways during 2025-26, when it recorded a freight loading of 1,670 million tonnes and carried nearly 7.41 billion passengers. The bonus is paid annually before the holidays to motivate employees and recognize their contribution to rail operations.
Vaishnaw also highlighted the government’s recruitment drive in the national carrier, saying that recruitment is underway for around 165,000 posts. Around 550,000 jobs have been created in Indian Railways since 2014, he said.
Safety net
Meanwhile, the Cabinet’s decision on social assistance aims to extend the safety net for vulnerable sections of society, including the elderly, widows, the disabled and families who have lost their main breadwinner.
The ₹53,428 crore allocation will fund continuation of NSAP in 2030-31. Administered by the Department of Rural Development, the program includes, in addition to financial assistance to families facing the death of a primary breadwinner, pension support for eligible elderly people, widows and people with disabilities.
The extension includes a relaxation of the eligibility criteria for people with disabilities, with the minimum disability threshold for pension benefits being reduced from 80% to 40%, thereby widening the range of potential beneficiaries. The changes are part of the government’s efforts to expand access to social assistance and include more vulnerable people in the formal social framework.
The program is expected to cover an expanded beneficiary base of approximately 32 million people. The proposed coverage includes the elderly and widows, the disabled and eligible families under the National Family Benefit Scheme.
The government has also outlined a broader approach to disability assistance, including extending support to eligible recipients from birth, rather than restricting access to those aged 18 and over as in the previous framework.
Under the scheme, eligible senior citizens receive pension assistance through the Indira Gandhi National Pension Scheme, while widows and disabled persons are covered under separate pension schemes. The National Family Benefit Scheme provides financial assistance to eligible households following the death of their primary breadwinner.
These two cabinet decisions deal with different dimensions of social policy: rewarding the productivity of railway employees and extending social protection to vulnerable households. The rail bonus comes amid ongoing efforts to expand network capacity and improve passenger and freight services, while the NSAP extension provides a five-year horizon for welfare funding.
