Government refutes reports that concessions to senior citizens will be reintroduced by Ministry of Railways
The government has denied reports that Indian Railways will resume concessions to senior citizens from July 1.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, through its “fact check” handle, tweeted that no such announcement has been made by the Ministry of Railways with regard to the resumption of concessions for senior citizens in trains.
It reiterated that at present the Ministry of Railways gives concessions only to physically challenged persons, patients and students.
Read the tweet here.
a #fake Media reports claim that Indian Railways will resume concessions for senior citizens from July 1, 2022
. No such announcement has been made by @RailMinIndia
Indian Railways is currently providing concessions only to Divyangjan, patients and students pic.twitter.com/ePoctCRu3A
— PIB FactCheck (@PIBFactCheck) 16 June 2022
The clarification was issued after there were reports in some sections of the media that senior citizen concessions in trains would resume from July 1, 2022.
PIB termed this news as ‘fake’.
Earlier, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had informed Parliament in March this year that the ministry, which scrapped senior citizen concessions in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, would not be reinstated.
Before the pandemic, Indian Railways had given 50 per cent discount to female passengers and 40 per cent to male passengers in all classes.
The minimum age to avail this exemption was 58 years for women and 60 years for men.