look news india
Indian Railways: A new update has come from the government on the special discount being given in train fares to senior citizens and other categories of passengers. Amidst the demand to restore the special concession on fares, the government has once again made its intentions clear in the Parliament.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Friday answered questions in Parliament on train fare concessions to senior citizens and sportspersons. He said that the Indian Railways has given a subsidy of about Rs 57 thousand crore to provide affordable services to passengers in 2022-23. According to the Railway Minister, this subsidy given by the Indian Railways is equal to 46 per cent of the fare of passengers of all classes.
The Railway Minister was asked whether senior citizens and sports persons are still getting the benefit of discount on train tickets which they used to get before March 2020. The government was also asked about the plan to restore the discount. In response, the Railway Minister said that Indian Railways strives to provide affordable services to people from all sections of the society. For this, a subsidy of Rs 56,993 crore was given by the Railways on fares in 2022-23.
Railway claims-so much discount!
He said that the average fare given by the railways is about 46 percent of the total fare of all passengers. All rail passengers are getting the benefit of this subsidy. Apart from this, the railways is giving additional discounts in fares to 4 categories of disabled persons, 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students.
The government reiterated the old argument
There was no mention of the concessions given to senior citizens in this reply of the Railway Minister. This is in line with the earlier stand of the government and reiterated that the government is not in favor of restoring the concessions available before March 2020. Ashwini Vaishnav had earlier argued that the Railways is giving concessions in fares to passengers of all classes and the government has no plans to give separate concessions to senior citizens.
first rent discount
Let us tell you that senior citizens and women traveling by Indian Railways were getting the benefit of concession in fare for a long time. However, this discount has been discontinued since March 2020. Earlier, female senior citizens used to get 50 percent discount in fare, while male and transgender senior citizens used to get 40 percent discount. When trains started running slowly after the lockdown, the concessions given to senior citizens and women were not restored.