Purulia Express: লালপাহাড়ীর দ‍্যাশে যাবি? চিন্তা কিসের লো? বিকাল বেলা হাওড়া থেকে পুরুল্যা এক্সপেরেস পাবি। - Dip

During the corona pandemic, the railways took back the discount provided to senior citizens on train tickets. This decision by the government has resulted in the railways earning extra crores of rupees. Through the information obtained from questions asked under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, it is revealed that since taking back the discounts given to senior citizens, Indian Railways has earned an additional income of 5800 crores. ●RTI Revelation● Madhya Pradesh resident Chandrashekhar Gaud has filed applications at different times under the RTI Act to gather information. From March 20, 2020, to January 31, 2024, the railways have earned over 5,875 crores in additional revenue in this regard. Gaud stated, "I filed three applications under the RTI Act. In the first application, the railways provided me with the additional revenue figures from March 20, 2020, to March 31, 2022. The second application revealed the figures from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. Meanwhile, the third application filed in February 2024 provided me with the data from April 1, 2023, to January 31, 2024. ●Number of senior citizens traveling by train in four years● He mentioned that the railways have provided figures based on the year and gender. With this, we can easily ascertain the additional revenue collected by the railways from March 20, 2020, to January 31, 2024. During a period of approximately four years, around 13 crores men, nine crores women, and 33,700 transgender senior citizens contributed a total revenue of about 13,287 crores by traveling on trains. Gaud said that considering a 50% discount for women and a previously applicable 40% discount for male and transgender senior citizen travelers, this amount significantly exceeds 5,875 crores. Questions related to reinstating the discounts for senior citizens in train fares post the pandemic have been raised in various forums, including both houses of parliament. ■ Railways offer subsidies on train tickets ■ However, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that Indian Railways provides a 55% discount on train fares to every rail passenger. In a press conference in January 2024, Vaishnaw mentioned that if the ticket price for a destination is 100 rupees, the railways are only charging passengers 45 rupees. This way, a discount of 55 rupees is provided on travel. Gaud pointed out that instead of coming up with new proposals, the current government has only revoked discounts, indicating that higher discounts were previously given on train tickets before Covid-19 as compared to the current 55 rupees.