Indian Railways is called the heartbeat of the country. Lakhs of people travel by train every day. In such a situation, the central government will focus on railways. According to sources, the central government can increase the allocation for railways.
In such a situation, it is expected that in this year’s general budget, the government can give a big relief to senior citizens. For this, the 50 percent discount they get on train tickets can be restored again.
Before Covid, under the government rules, male senior citizens used to get up to 40 percent discount on train tickets, while female senior citizens used to get 50 percent discount on tickets. Till the end of 2019, IRCTC used to give concession in fares on train tickets of Duronto, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Mail and Express trains to male senior citizens above 60 years of age and female passengers of 58 years or above. For example, if the first AC ticket of Rajdhani train is Rs 4,000, then senior citizens used to get it for just Rs 2,000 or Rs 2,300.
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Discount closed during Covid period
The discount given to senior citizens on train ticket booking by IRCTC was stopped during the Covid period. Railway services had come to a halt since the end of 2019 due to the Covid pandemic that spread across the world. Later they were restored, but the railways were incurring huge losses due to fewer passengers traveling. In such a situation, the central government had ended this special concession to cover the expenses.
What are the demands of the citizens?
Dinesh Sahu, a resident of Jaunpur, says that his son lives in Delhi. He travels by train every two to four months to meet him. Earlier, he was very comfortable with the discount on train tickets provided by the government, but after Covid, this facility was stopped. As a result, he now has to spend more money to go to his son’s place. In such a situation, he wants the government to help all senior citizens like him in the general budget to be presented on July 23 and reinstate the facility of 50 percent discount on tickets.
