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New Delhi: This is bad news for the elderly (people above 60 years of age) traveling in the train. They will have to wait longer for the discount in rail fares before the corona period. Responding to a written question in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav said that the restrictions imposed in the era of Corona on concession in fare to senior citizens will continue for the time being. This decision has been taken keeping in mind the decreasing earnings of the Railways.
Ban removed from three categories
That is, those who felt that the way all the restrictions related to Corona have been removed, in the same way the ban on concession in rent will also be abolished, for them this is sad news. However, the Railway Minister did not say how long this ban would continue. Indian Railways gives concession in rail fare to many other categories of passengers including senior citizens. At present, the railways has lifted the ban on concession in fare for three categories of passengers. These include four types of Divyangjan, patients suffering from 11 types of diseases and students.
In his written reply, the Railway Minister said that due to Corona, the lockdown and after that the movement of trains was affected. This also affected the earnings of the Railways. According to the reply of the Railway Minister, there has been a significant decline in the earnings of the railways from passenger fares during the financial year 2020-21 as compared to the financial year 2019-20. He has clearly said that due to the concession in the fare, there is a big burden on the railways. In such a situation, the restriction on concession in fare to some other categories of passengers including senior citizens will continue.
Let us inform that senior citizens get exemption in rail fare which was closed from March 2020 during the first complete lockdown after the start of Corona epidemic. At that time the government had said that since the trains are not running, it has been decided to stop all types of concessions in the fare. After this the trains were started again but the exemption given to senior citizens was not started.
