During the Corona epidemic, Railways had banned many types of discounts available to passengers. These also include discounts on train tickets for senior citizens. Now a question was also asked in the Parliament regarding this matter, to which the Railway Ministry has also given a clear answer.
This question was asked in Parliament
A question was asked to the Railway Ministry in the Lok Sabha that earlier the senior citizens of the country used to get discount on the price of train tickets, which has been stopped. Is there any consideration going on to give back this exemption or has any decision been taken in this regard?
Railway gave this answer
In response to this question, the Railway Ministry said that at present exemption is being given to four categories of disabled people, 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students in the country. In the year 2022-23, Rs 56,993 crore was spent by the Railway Ministry as subsidy on all the passengers traveling by train. Giving an example, the Railway Ministry said that if the Railways provides a facility of ₹ 100 to a passenger, then it charges 46 percent less ticket price from that passenger i.e. only ₹ 54. In this regard, a discount of about Rs 46 is already being given to the passengers by the Railways on a ticket of Rs 100.
Said this on senior citizens
According to the Railway Ministry, the Railways’ effort is to increase the facilities provided to senior citizens. In such a situation, efforts are made to give only lower seats to senior citizens, so that their journey becomes easier.
What does Railways’ reply mean?
It is noteworthy that during the Corona period, the discount on train tickets given to senior citizens was stopped. After the end of the Corona epidemic, there has been a continuous demand that the discount on ticket price given to senior citizens should be restarted. At present, the situation before Corona has not been restored yet. At the same time, looking at this reply of the Railway Ministry, it seems that senior citizens are not going to get exemption in the coming days also.
Also read: Passengers please note, Railways has canceled many trains on this route, see complete list
