In a Diwali bonanza, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a productivity-linked bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days’ wages for eligible railway employees. The total payout will be Rs 2,009.61 crore and will benefit 11,40,770 employees, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting.The bonus is meant for non-gazetted railway employees. The maximum amount payable to an eligible employee is Rs 17,951 for 78 days.It covers a wide range of railway employees, including track maintainers, loco pilots, train managers (guards), station masters, supervisors, technicians and technician helpers, pointsmen, ministerial staff and other Group ‘C’ employees.“This year too, a PLB equivalent to 78 days’ wages is being paid to about 11.4 lakh non-gazetted railway employees. The payment of PLB acts as an incentive to motivate railway employees to work towards improving the performance of the Railways,” the minister said.“The performance of the Railways in 2025-26 was very good. The Railways loaded a record 1,670 million tonnes of cargo and carried nearly 7.41 billion passengers,” Vaishnaw said.