Indian Railways has withdrawn the concession made to senior citizens and earned an additional revenue of Rs 8,913 crore in five years. This information was provided by the Railway Information System Center (CRIS) in response to a petition filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The opposition has repeatedly demanded to resume concession on railway tickets for senior citizens. However, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has said that the Railways already gives 46 percent concession to every citizen.
Before 20 March 2020, men and transgenders over 60 years of age and women above 58 years of age were getting 40 percent and 50 percent concession on railway tickets of all categories respectively. However, with the introduction of Kovid epidemic, the government stopped this concession, which has not been resumed till date.
According to the information given under the RTI Act, between 20 March 2020 to 28 February 2025, 31.35 crore senior citizens traveled by paying an additional amount of Rs 8,913 crore due to cancellation of concessions.
Chandrashekhar Gaur, RTI activist from Madhya Pradesh, said that between 20 March 2020 to 28 February 2025, 18.279 crore men and 13.065 crore women and 43,536 transgenders traveled.
According to the information given by the Ministry of Railways, during this period, the Railways earned Rs 11,531 crore from the visit of senior citizen men, Rs 8,599 crore from women’s visit and Rs 28.64 lakh from transgenders.
The post will get an additional burden of Rs 1000 to the Railways by canceling the concessions given to senior citizens. 100 crores in five years. Additional revenue of Rs 1.50 lakh was received. 8913 crore first appeared on News India Live | Breaking India News, The Indian Headline, India Express News, Fast India News.
