Delhi Metro slashes 50% allowanced for employees

50% allowance is decreased by Delhi Metro for more than 12,000 employees.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions on public transport, the allowances (salaries) have been cut. The cut is not just for the allowances but also for the various perks which are given to the employees. The perks used to include free travel for some, discounted tickets, or additional subscriptions for the metro card.

In place from August 2020, these changes will be applied. Currently due to the ban on the use of public transport Delhi Metro has faced a loss of over Rs. 1,300 crore. Further issues were seen due to the inability to repay the loan Delhi Metro incurred from Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) which values more than Rs. 35,000 Crore. Now in this financial year, DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) has to pay JICA about Rs. 1,200 crore.

This is a trend which most firms have followed over the lockdown. Slashing salaries is not a new thing during this lockdown, but generally, this is done by small firms and not on such a large scale. The harsh side of this news is that it is integral for everyone to accept this, yet this creates a large degree of short-run suffering.

In the long run, DMRC reduces the pressure it would financially hold and be able to grow. However, due to the presence of DMRC in the public sector, this will become a large issue in terms of politics. Slashing the salaries for 12,000 employees is a sudden change which would need some getting used to. This is one of those things which just have to be accepted and moved on from.