In announcing the decision, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that at least 30 lakh of unpublished employees will benefit from the announcement and that the bonus will be disbursed in a single installment before Vijaya Dashami.
The beneficiaries include 17 lakh unpublished employees in government business establishments such as railways, post offices, EPFO, ESIC and production, and their share will be Rs 2,791 crore. The remaining 13 lakh government employees will get a non-productivity bond bonus of Rs 946 crore.
Javadekar said that this money in the hands of the middle class will drive demand in the market.
Two major railway workers’ associations had warned about blocking the railway movement if their demand for the release of bonuses linked to productivity was not met before Durga Puja.
Last week, the government announced a cash voucher scheme for licensed travel concession (LTC). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an additional allocation of Rs 37,000 crore for capital expenditures and put money in the pockets of employees ahead of the festival season, hoping to trigger a demand for Rs 1 lakh crore on her last attempt to reactivate economic activity.
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