Restore fare concessions offered to senior citizens in railways: Kejriwal to PM

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore the fare concessions offered to senior citizens by the railwaysIn a letter to the prime minister on Saturday last he said the Centre has a budget of Rs 45 lakh crore and it would incur a cost of Rs 1600 crore if it extends the concession to senior citizensTerming the amount as a drop in the ocean he said the government will not become rich by not spending the amountBy stopping the facility a message was being given to senior citizens that the government did not care for them which was against the culture of the country he said adding that no person society or country can progress without the blessings of the elderlyDelhi was seeing progress in all areas due to the blessings of the elderly for whom free pilgrimage of religious places has been arranged by his government he saidAlso Read Free electricity jobs for all unemployed if AAP forms govt in Assam Arvind KejriwalThe Centre had in 2020 discontinued the concessions granted to senior citizens to discourage the movement of the public to arrest the spread of COVID19A parliamentary standing committee has recently recommended the resumption of the fare concession offered to senior citizens by the railwaysThe Indian Railways used to offer a 40 per cent discount in fares to males aged 60 years or above and for females a 50 per cent discount was given if the minimum age was 58 yearsThese concessions were granted in fares of all classes of MailExpressRajdhani ShatabdiDuranto group of trains but were withdrawn on March 20 2020The Standing Committee on Railways headed by BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh said from the information furnished by the Railways the Covid situation has now been normalised and the national transporter has achieved normal growthThe Committee in their 12th Action Taken Report 17th Lok Sabha on Passenger Reservation System had also desired that the concessions to senior citizens which were available in preCovid times may be reviewed and considered at least in Sleeper Class and 3A Class so that the vulnerable and genuinely needy citizens could avail the facility in these classesThe Committee therefore reiterate their earlier recommendation contained in their abovesaid report and urge upon the Railways to consider empathically for resumption of concessions in fares to senior citizens particularly in Sleeper Class and 3A Class under intimation to this Committee the report saidThe Railways however said it had no immediate plans to resume the concessionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever