There is good news for the passengers traveling by train. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has given a lot of information regarding the exemption given to senior citizens. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the Indian Railways may soon restore the senior citizen concession, which was discontinued due to Covid.
The Ministry of Railways said in the Rajya Sabha that the Standing Committee has advised to review and consider the concession to senior citizens at least in sleeper and 3 AC. Parliamentary panel has recommended that concession on railway tickets to senior citizens should be restored.
The Railway Minister told the Rajya Sabha on Friday that the Indian Railways subsidized Rs 59,837 crore on passenger tickets in 2019-20, which is an average concession of about 53% for each person traveling.
There may be a change in the rules, the Railway Board said that it is planning to give concessions to senior citizens, in which the idea is to reduce the cost of these concessions while maintaining the subsidy for senior citizens. As of now, no terms and conditions have been decided yet.
53 percent discount is available
According to the information received from the Ministry of Railways, all the citizens traveling in the train get an average discount of 53 percent on the fare. Along with this, Divyangjans, students and patients get many types of concessions apart from this exemption.
In which class will the discount be given?
In the Rajya Sabha, the Railway Minister was asked about the Railway Concession, whether the Railways will again give the facility of discount on train tickets. On this, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has said that in 2019-20, Railways has given a subsidy of Rs 59,837 crore on passenger tickets. Apart from this, the Standing Committee attached to the Parliament has suggested giving concession in train tickets to senior citizens traveling in sleeper and third AC.
In response to another question by BJP MP Sushil Modi on waiver of Rs 670 crore subsidy , the minister informed that the revenue on account of concession in passenger fares to senior citizens during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 is around Rs 1,491 crore. , was Rs 1,636 crore and Rs 1,667. In 2017-18, a subsidy of Rs 670 crore was waived off for senior citizens in non-AC class trains, while Rs 820 crore was spent for subsidy in AC class.
In 2018-19, Rs 714 crore was spent on these concessions in non-AC classes and Rs 921 crore in AC classes. In 2019-20, there was a discount of Rs 701 crore for non AC class, while it was Rs 965 crore for AC class.
