The Railways in the current fiscal is expected to incur Rs 8,500 crore more than the amount it provided for in the last budget on revised pay and pension to its employees and retired workforce.
The Railways had provisionally kept Rs 4,000 crore for paying higher salaries to its employees and Rs 1,000 crore in the Pension Fund for this fiscal.
However, it is expected that in the current fiscal expenditure on revised salaries will be substantially higher at Rs 9,000 crore for salaries and Rs 4,500 crore for pension, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said in his speech for interim budget in Lok Sabha.
On other hand, thanks to its financial turnaround, the Railways even after implementing the 6th Pay Commission report would not default on dividend payment to the government, pegged at Rs 4,710.96 crore for the current fiscal and Rs 5,304.22 crore for the next fiscal.
"The honourable members would recall that after implementation of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission, the financial position of the Railways deteriorated rapidly and they defaulted in payment of Rs 2,800 crore as dividend in 2001 and 2002," the Railway Minister said.
This time around, thanks to its strong financial position, the Railways has implemented the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations with relative ease, benefiting about 14 lakh employees and 11 lakh pensioners without defaulting on payment of dividend.
