In the wake of railway workers threatening a strike and total ‘chakka jam’ from July 11 onwards, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley about the perceived problem and burden on Railways following the implementation of the just announced 7th Pay Commission recommendations.
Railway Ministry sources said that Prabhu has conveyed in his letter to Jaitley that the implementation of 7th Pay commission recommendations will lead to an additional burden of `31,000 crore.
“(Seventh) Pay Commission has been accepted recently and there are lots of queries as to how Railways is going to fund. Our internal calculation is that the burden on railways will be around `31,000 crore, which is the requirement was a little more than the commission’s estimate of `28,000 crore,” Prabhu is believed to have apprised the Finance Minister.
Prabhu has said that around `12,000 crore will be on account of wages, `8,000 crore on account of pensions and the balance on account of various allowances which may lead to deterioration in Railways’ operating ratio.
“last year, we ended with around 90 per cent. This will deteriorate to 92 per cent. Railways will try to see whether it is able to raise the resources on our own. We have approached the Ministry of Finance. If necessary, we will approach them for some assistance,” said a railway official.
On the impending strike call by railways unions, railway officials said the railway authorities held a meeting with representatives of employees’ unions over issues related to the pay hike and hoped that there would be no disruption of services.
Railway and other central government employees have decided to go on strike from July 11 against the pay commission recommendations approved by the government on Wednesday.
Asked whether the prospect of a strike by railway workers was worrying them, the official said that there are two recognised unions and their leadership is quite mature. “We are talking to them, we have had a few rounds of discussions already with them and we hope to find a solution. At this moment, I can only say that,” he said.