Railways earned additional Rs 8,913 crore in 5 years by withdrawing senior citizens' concession: RTI
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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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
