MP Seeks Return Of 50% Train Fare Concession Discontinued During Covid

Members of Parliament on Wednesday again urged the government to resume the 50% concession on train fares for senior citizens and journalists that was discontinued during the Covid pandemic.

Participating in the debate on Demands for Grants for Railways in Lok Sabha, Independent MP Pappu Yadav requested the government to resume the concessions for senior citizens and journalists.

Durai Vaiko also raised the issue, saying the 50% concession given on train tickets to senior citizens and the accredited press media that was provided until the March 2020 lockdown has still not been restored.

"I urge the honourable minister to restore this 50% concession on train tickets to senior citizens and media," Vaiko said.

As policymakers, he said, "We need to take care of the interest of the fourth pillar of democracy there is press and media."

Vaiko also requested the government to restore the monthly seasonal ticket concession given to students till March 2020 lockdown.

Before the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, the Indian Railways offered a 50 per cent concession on train fares to senior citizens and government-accredited journalists.

Yadav also asked the government to improve the safety of trains, pointing to the number of rail accidents in the recent past.

He also urged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was present during the debate, to focus on basic amenities and increase the number of general compartments in trains.

The railway minister should consider a provision for 75% concession for students travelling to undertake any competitive exam, he said, adding that concessions for theatre artistes should also be resumed.

Sudama Prasad asked the government to put a halt to what he said was 'privatisation' of the Railways and demanded a separate budget for it.

Trains that stopped running during the Covid period should be restarted in the interest of the general public, he demanded.

K Francis George (Kerala Congress) too demanded a separate budget for the Railways.

A parliamentary standing committee had last year recommended the resumption of the fare concession offered to senior citizens by the railways before the coronavirus pandemic.

These concessions were granted in fares of all classes of Mail/Express/Rajdhani/ Shatabdi/Duranto group of trains but were withdrawn on March 20, 2020.