The Indian Railways is planning to reinstate senior citizen concessions in some categories that were previously suspended by the national transporter following the resumption of train services following the covid-induced lockdown.
In Lok Sabha, on Monday, four Members of Parliament asked: “whether the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its report on 4th August 2022 has recommended for restoration of senior citizen concession to railway passengers for sleeper class and third AC passengers urgently as passenger traffic is nearing normalcy.” Responding to the query Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw replied, “Standing Committee on Railways has advised to review and consider concession to senior citizens at least in sleeper class and 3AC.”
Also replying to another query on the reasons for the non-resumption of senior citizen concessions for Railways despite the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, Railway Minister replied, “Government gave a subsidy of Rs 59,837 crore on passenger tickets in 2019-20. This amounts to concession of 53% on an average, to every person, travelling on Railways. This subsidy is continuing for all passengers. Further concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like Divyangjans, students, and patients.”
According to previous reports, the Railway Board intends to offer the concession to senior citizens aged 70 and up in the general and sleeper classes. The Railways stated that the goal is to offset the cost of these concessions while maintaining the senior citizen subsidy. The terms and conditions, however, have not yet been finalised.
“We understand that these concessions help the elderly and we never said we were going to scrap it completely. We are reviewing it and will make a decision on it. The logic is that if we limit it to the sleeper and general classes, we cover 70 percent of travellers. These are just some of the options we are considering, and nothing has been finalized,” said source.