Indian Railways: Concessions for the elderly have been closed in the railways for almost two years (Indicative picture)
It has been said in a media report that the Railways is going to restore the concession facility for senior citizens from July 1. The government has denied this news and said that there is no such preparation yet and the media report is completely fake.
A media report has claimed that Indian Railways (Indian Railways) is going to restore the facility of concession for senior citizen passengers from July 1. This is the same facility in which the elderly passengers of the country are given discount in the ticket fare. This facility used to be available two years ago, but due to the corona pandemic (Corona Pandemic) It was stopped after minor restrictions in the starting and operation of trains. Now there is a media report claiming that the railway is going to restore this facility of concession or exemption. However, this report is not correct and the government itself has denied it. The government has told the common people through a fact check that till now no such announcement has been made by the Ministry of Railways. In the last two-three days, this news has become very viral and the government department has also been wondering how and from where such reports came out.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), a government agency dealing with the press and information, has scrutinized this media report. The effect of this news is being seen on the population of the country which till now was getting exemption in reservation etc. from railways. Because of this, this media report has made more and more headlines in a short time. Later the government had to come forward and clarify its stand. The work of PIB is also fact checking, for which a separate Twitter handle is run. The name of this handle is PIB Fact Check.
what did the government say
PIB Fact Check’s tweet reads, A #fake media report is claiming that Indian Railways will resume concessions for senior citizens from July 1, 2022. No such announcement has been made by the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways is currently providing concessions only to Divyangjan, patients and students.
A #Fake media report is claiming that the 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 to divyangjans, patients & students only pic.twitter.com/ePoctCRu3A
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) June 16, 2022
After the publication of this media report, inquiries started increasing in the railway department as to when the concession facility would start and what would be the extent of the concession. Although the date of July 1 is mentioned in the report, but such fake news has come before. So people were not trusting the report. Later, the Ministry of Railways also took cognizance of this and the investigation of the news was started. It was found in the investigation that the Ministry of Railways has not said anything about any such preparations yet. As of now, nothing like giving exemption to senior citizens has been approved. The government also told that at present, only Divyangjan, patients and students are being given the benefit of concession.
Why was the concession closed?
In fact, the facility of exemption in railway reservation etc. to senior citizens was going on for a long time. In this, the rate of tickets is reduced and priority is also given in berths etc. But during the Corona epidemic, many restrictions came to the fore. Normal operation of trains was stopped in the lockdown and Railways started running special trains. All kinds of precautions were taken in the operation of trains. Even the facility of blankets and sheets etc. was stopped.
Railway counters were not operational for deducting tickets. Waiting ticket sales are closed. Even for traveling in general class, it was made mandatory to buy tickets first. Now these restrictions have been removed, but the facility of concession of senior citizens has not been returned yet. By when it will be restored, nothing can be said yet.
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