Indian Railways: Women get 50 percent concession, while men get 40 percent concession in the concessions available to senior citizens in Indian Railways. Let us know the latest updates on this.
New Delhi: Indian Railways: The increasing infection of the Coronavirus pandemic had stopped the pace of the entire country. Due to this epidemic, in March 2020, a lockdown was imposed in the entire country for several days. In this sequence, the services of Indian Railways were also suspended. After this, when the speed of infection decreased, then the train started running on the track.
The fare collected from about 4 crore elderly passengers
Meanwhile, many facilities available in the train were abolished. Along with this, the concession given to senior citizens in trains was also stopped indefinitely. During this, about four crore senior citizens had to pay the full fare for their journey. This information has come to the fore through an RTI.
Information received through RTI!
In response to an RTI filed by Chandrashekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh, the Railways has said that 37,850,668 senior citizens have traveled in trains between March 22, 2020 and September 2021. During this, train services were kept suspended for several months due to the lockdown. That is, these senior citizens have paid the full fare for the journey.
It is worth noting that Indian Railways gives concessions in different categories. In this, women get 50 percent concession among senior citizens, while men get 40 percent concession. The minimum age limit for this relaxation is 58 years for women and 60 years for men.
Discussion on concessions from Railways
According to news agency PTI, the exemption from the railways has been discussed many times in the last two decades. Many committees of the country have recommended their withdrawal. For this reason, in July 2016, the Railways made the exemption given to the elderly optional while booking tickets. That is, now if senior citizens want, they can take exemption otherwise not.
Appeal to restore concessions
A retired private sector employee says, “With regular train services running, at least the concessions earlier given to senior citizens should be restored. Most of the elderly cannot pay the full rent. Let us tell you that a day earlier, Madurai MP Su Venkatesan had appealed to the Union Railway Minister to restore the passenger concessions for his rail travel, saying that it is necessary for the elderly in a country where 20 percent are below the poverty line. live below.
