NEW DELHI, Jan 12: Regarding calls to reinstate pre-Covid fare concessions for older citizens and media professionals, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that every passenger receives a 55% concession on train travels. In response to inquiries from the media regarding the reinstatement of concessions, Vaishnaw stated, “The Indian Railway is already offering 55 per cent concession on train fares to every train passenger,” without directly answering any queries. Vaishnaw was in Ahmedabad, among other things, to assess the state of the current bullet train project. Prior to the March 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, senior citizens and journalists with official government accreditation received a 50% train fare discount from the Railways.During the lockdown, all railway operations were suspended. However, upon the full resumption of operations in June 2022, the Railway Ministry failed to reinstate these concessions. Consequently, the matter has been brought up on a number of platforms, including in both chambers of parliament. When questioned by numerous fellow lawmakers, Vaishnaw repeatedly took the same stance in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.During a press conference in Ahmedabad on Thursday, Vaishnaw responded to questions from the media by saying, “If a train ticket to a destination costs Rs 100, Railway is charging only Rs 45.” It is providing a concession of Rs 55. In an earlier response to an RTI application from Chandra Shekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh, the Indian Railways stated that in the fiscal year 2022–2023 it received roughly Rs 2,242 crore from roughly 15 crore senior citizens.
