Railway Board seeks to rein in spending on employee allowances, others

Concerned over rising working expenses, the Railway Board has asked its seven zones to review their expenditure on employee allowances for overtime, night duty and travel, and fuel and maintenance, sources have said.

In a quarterly review meeting chaired by Railway Board Chairman V K Tripathi, it was found that the Ordinary Working Expenses (OWE) in current financial year up to May show that the seven zones have exceeded the Railways’ average of 26 per cent increase over corresponding period of previous year, they said.

These zones are Northeast Frontier Railway (37.9 per cent), Northern Railway (35.3 per cent), South Central Railway (34.8 per cent), South West Railway (33.1 per cent),