Budget 2025: Senior citizens have big expectations from the budget of 2025. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, senior citizens used to get 40 to 50 percent discount on train tickets, but this facility was stopped during the pandemic. Now the effect of Covid is over, still the government has not restarted this concession. Senior citizens have demanded that the discount on train tickets should be reinstated in the upcoming budget.
Exemption was available till 2019
Till the end of 2019, Indian Railways (Indian Railways and IRCTC) used to provide discounts to senior citizens on tickets of special trains like Mail, Express, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto. Men aged 60 years or above got 40% concession on tickets and women aged 58 years or above got 50% concession. For example, if a first AC ticket of Rajdhani Express was priced at Rs 4,000, it was available for senior citizens at Rs 2,000 or Rs 2,300.
After Covid, discounts on trains stopped
At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, in 2020, the government stopped this discount on railway tickets. This facility has not been restarted even after the pandemic. Senior citizens say they have limited sources of income after retirement, and the railway concessions made their travel affordable. In such a situation, they want this relief to be given again.
Expectations from the Finance Minister
On February 1, 2025, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget of the central government. This will be the first budget of the third term of the Modi government, from which people, especially senior citizens, have many expectations. Senior citizens say that the government should make travel accessible for them by reintroducing this relaxation. He believes that if this demand gets a place in the budget, lakhs of senior citizens will benefit. Now it remains to be seen whether this relief will be brought back in Budget 2025.
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