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New Delhi: Modi government has opened a box of happiness for lakhs of employees of Indian Railways. If you or someone in your family works in Railways, then this news will make your day. Giving a big gift to the running staff of Railways, the Central Government has given the green signal to a bumper increase of 25% in their Kilometerage Allowance (KMA). This explosive decision of the government is going to warm the pockets of lakhs of railway employees of the country and there is going to be a direct and huge increase in their monthly income.

What is Kilometer Allowance and why is it very special?

Now this question might be arising in your mind that what is this Kilometerage Allowance (KMA)? Actually, this special allowance is given to those brave railway employees who are directly involved in running and operating the train and are constantly on the move while on duty. Since these employees do not get normal TA/DA i.e. traveling allowance like ordinary government employees, hence kilometer allowance is the most important and important part of their earnings. This allowance is given to them by calculating it per kilometer of train running.

Along with this, the government provides another special facility, which is called minimum guarantee. This means that if for some reason the running staff gets a shorter distance train or is able to cover a shorter distance, they still get a guaranteed minimum payment. This is why this allowance becomes a huge part of their total salary and an increase in it directly means a rocketing of the salary.

These railway employees will have fun, there was a demand for a long time

The biggest and direct benefit of this decision of the government will be given to the train loco pilot (driver), assistant loco pilot, train manager (guard) and other brave employees involved in running duty. These are the people who keep the heartbeat of the country i.e. Indian Railways running on track, day and night, irrespective of sun, shade or weather. The demand for increasing the allowances of these employees was pending for a long time, which the government has now fulfilled.

The increased money will start flowing into your account from the month of April itself!

Another double good news for railway employees is that they will not have to wait long for this increased allowance. There is every possibility that the employees will start getting increased kilometer allowance from the month of April this year itself. This means that this increased amount will be added to the salary for April, which is sure to create a festival-like atmosphere in the homes of the employees.

Understand how many thousand rupees will be the direct benefit in your salary.

Now let us understand some mathematics to see what effect this 25% increase will have on your inhand salary. After this decision, there will be a direct increase of thousands of rupees every month in the total income of the employees. For example, if a loco pilot or guard was earlier getting Rs 10,000 as kilometer allowance every month, then after the increase of 25%, it will now directly increase to around Rs 12,500. However, how much money will increase in your pocket will depend on the number of kilometers of duty you have done in the entire month and the distance covered.

Railway organizations celebrated, called it a big and historic victory

As soon as this decision of the government came, there is an atmosphere of celebration among the railway employee organizations and they have called it a big achievement. Expressing happiness over this, General Secretary of All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) Shiv Gopal Mishra said that this is a big victory for the long standing legitimate demands of the employees. He said that after continuous talks and hard efforts between the organization and the government, the government has finally taken this positive and commendable step.

Is this a big sign of the arrival of the 8th Pay Commission?

This big decision of the government has come at a time when discussions are very hot in the market regarding the formation of the 8th Pay Commission in the country. Experts believe that this huge 25% increase in kilometer allowance could be an early trailer of major salary reforms for central employees in the coming days. Anyway, as per the rules, when the Dearness Allowance (DA) reaches or exceeds 50%, the demand for revision and increase in other allowances also increases, and this decision of the government is being considered as a big step in that direction.