Madurai MP wants Railways to reinstate passenger concessions

Madurai MP, S. Venkatesan has appealed to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to restore passenger concessions for rail travel.

In a memorandum submitted to the minister in New Delhi on Friday, Mr Venkatesan welcomed the resumption of most train services that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 53 concessions given to about 21.75 crore passengers have not been given back except in the case of railway employees. The memorandum states that even for railway employees, the introduction of the e-pass system has restricted their travel facility.

According to the CAG, 11.45% of reserved passengers avail railway concessions. Of these, railway employees, for whom concessions are statutory, are 37.2% and senior citizens 52.5%. Patients account for 3.8%, persons with disabilities 3.6% and other concessions including media persons 2.9%.

By a commercial circular dated December 7, 2020, all concessions except railway passes were withdrawn in festival, holiday special and clone trains.

All concessions were allowed over time for various reasons due to social necessity and obligations. War widows, sportsmen, farmers, youth and students also enjoyed the concession, the memorandum said.

The cost of senior citizen concession is only ₹1,400 crore per year. In a country where 20% of the population is below the poverty level, concessions are necessary to ensure pilgrimage and tourism. It said that with the withdrawal of concessions, passengers have not had to travel even for essentials.

As colleges and schools reopen, the extension of season tickets including student concessions was extremely necessary, the MP said, and asked the minister to restore season tickets including free and subsidized season tickets to students and market vendor season tickets to rural traders. Appealed.

To facilitate concession, Mr. Venkatesan also desired that the Railways should run ordinary passenger trains and put unreserved coaches in express and mail trains.