VIJAYAWADA: South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager Gajanan Mallya on Thursday unveiled a campaign poster to launch the #GiveUpConcession campaign seeking the cooperation of senior citizens to forgo their concessions while booking reserved tickets with the Indian Railways.
In a press release issued here, Mallya said that senior citizens travelling through Indian Railways were presently given concession on reserved ticket booking in all the classes between any destination and for umpteen number of times. The facility entails 40 per cent concession to male passengers over 60 years of age and 50 per cent for female passengers over the age of 58 years.
However, in 2017, the Ministry of Railways introduced a ‘Give Up’ scheme regarding the concessions.
Following this, senior citizens of Indian nationality were given the option to forgo the concession granted to them.
They were made entitled to give up either 50 per cent of it or 100 per cent, thereby paying the actual full fare. The scheme has been introduced for all reserved tickets, issued either at the Reservation Counters or on the Internet (e-tickets), the GM said.
“Indian Railways has been extending the concession out of its concern and respect for the senior citizens of the country, despite the financial burden it had to go through. For the propagation of the ‘Give Up’ scheme, the SCR has planned to reach out to the senior citizens on its network to make them more aware on the availability of the option to forgo concession while travelling,” he said.