During a session in parliament, the Opposition again brought to the forefront the issue of senior citizen concessions on Indian Railways.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi inquired about the government’s plans to reinstate the concessions for senior citizens temporarily halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw provided a written reply on Aug 2 stating that the Indian Railways had disbursed a substantial subsidy of ₹56,993 crores on passenger tickets in the financial year 2022-23. He emphasised that the railway provides an average subsidy or concession of 46% to all passengers.

In addition, the minister’s office stated, “Further, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like 4 categories of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjans/PwDs), 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students.”

However, there was no mention of concessions for senior citizens in the answer.