Indian Railways to encourage passengers to give up ticket subsidy
New Delhi : After option to give up gas subsidy, the government is now planning to encourage the train passengers to give up their train ticket subsidy. As part of the 100-day roadmap prepared by the Railway Board, the national transporter is looking to rationalise passenger fares.
According to the 100-day roadmap document of Indian Railways, as seen by the Financial Express, lists out the top 11 priorities for railways till August-end, including one that plans to encourage the passengers to give up subsidy on train fares.
According to the proposal, at the time of booking their IRCTC train tickets, passengers will be give the following options:
- Purchase IRCTC train ticket without subsidy
- Purchase IRCTC train ticket with subsidy
Indian Railways aims to launch a massive awareness campaign of the “Give It Up” scheme within 100 days to reduce passenger subsidy on Indian Railways. This campaign will be run on digital, TV, print, radio, social media platforms and at railway stations and inside trains.
Last year, PM Narendra Modi had lauded senior citizens for participating in Indian Railways “Give It Up” scheme. According to data published by Indian Railways, between 15th August, 2016 to 31st March, 2018 as many as 40 lakh senior citizens gave up their railway fare subsidy resulting in a benefit of Rs 77 crore.
