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Bengaluru: The sudden transfer of chief secretary of the Labour Department P Manivannan, who had stood up for workers during the Corona lockdown, has given rise to objection by the working class.

While IAS officer Maheshwar Rao has been given the charge in the Department, the member of the Corona Warriors team have expressed shock on hearing of Manivannan's transfer. They have even declared that they were withdrawing from any kind of Corona-related work.

The ire is being expressed even on social media, with the #BringBackManivannan trending. The labour unions are demanding a withdrawal of the transfer, warning of staging a protest otherwise.

Manivannan had recently warned of taking action against factory owners who failed to pay the April salary to their workers. The government is being accused of transferring the officer due to pressure from industrialists.

Manivannan had also objected to the government decision to pass an ordinance on the amendment to the labour law to increase the working hours from eight to 12 without consulting leaders of labour unions.

The government has said that the transfer was due to complaints received against Manivannan on irregularities in supply of grocery kits, but the protesters have pointed out that the officer had refused legislators supply of ration kits, calling this a reason for transfer.

AITUC general secretary M D Harigovind said that the industrialists had objected to opening of an online portal for workers' complaints regarding pay and demanded Manivannan's transfer. “The government has agreed to the demand,” he concurred.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the CPM too have criticised Manivannan's transfer after he had worked effectively in the state government's struggle against spread of Corona.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Indian Railways has earned an additional revenue of approximately Rs 8,913 crore in five years by withdrawing concessions for senior citizens, according to replies from the Centre for Railway Information Systems on a Right to Information Act applications.

CRIS functions under the Railway Ministry and develops as well as maintains ticketing and passengers data besides offering various other services.

The question of restoring concessions on train tickets for senior citizens was raised in the parliament by members on several occasions, however, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the Railways already pays 46 per cent concession on an average to every passenger.

Males and transgenders over the age of 60 and females over the age of 58 used to avail 40 per cent and 50 per cent discounts respectively on train tickets for all classes before March 20, 2020, when the Railway Ministry withdrew it due to the onset of the Covid pandemic.

The data of passengers as well as revenue generated from them, accessed under the RTI Act, suggested that between March 20, 2020, and February 28, 2025, 31.35 crore senior citizens (male, female, transgenders) travelled paying an additional amount of Rs 8,913 crore due to suspension of concessions.

"I filed multiple applications under the RTI Act from March 20, 2020, onwards with the Railway Ministry and the most recent one was in March 2025. When I analysed the data, I found that approximately 18.279 crore males, 13.065 crore females and 43,536 transgender passengers, all senior citizens, travelled between March 20, 2020, and February 28, 2025,” Chandra Shekhar Gaur, an RTI activist from Madhya Pradesh said.

Calculating the gender-wise breakup for the overall revenue from senior citizens, Gaur said that according to the Ministry's response, it was approximately Rs 11,531 crore from male passengers, Rs 8,599 crore from female travellers and Rs 28.64 Lakh from transgender passengers.

He added, "The total revenue generated from all these passengers was Rs 20,133 crore. Considering the removal of 40 per cent discount for male as well as transgender passengers and 50 per cent for female on train journeys, the additional income that Railways earned was Rs Rs 8,913.”

The Railway Ministry has countered the demand for restoring senior citizen concessions on multiple occasions in the past.

"Indian Railways strives to provide affordable services to all strata of the society and gave subsidies of Rs 56,993 crore on passenger tickets in 2022- 23. This amounts to a concession of 46 per cent on average, to every person travelling on Railways,” Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on March 19, 2025.

He added, “In other words for easier understanding, if the cost of providing service is Rs 100, then the price of the ticket is Rs 54 only. This subsidy is continuing for all passengers.”

According to the Railway Minister, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like four categories of Persons with disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients and eight categories of students.

Gaur demanded the restoration of the concession and questioned, “A common citizen pays various taxes throughout his life and on entering the age of senior citizen, can’t he expect the facility of concessional railway tickets from the Railways?"

"On what ground does the government call itself a welfare state?" he added.

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