In a first-of-its-kind gesture, a good Samaritan has offered to refund the subsidy amount paid for his journey by the Indian Railways as per the reservation rules.
The senior citizen, Avtar Krishen Kher, enclosed a cheque in the name of IRCTC for the differential amount of the actual fare and the subsidy.
The Railways recently started printing the subsidy “burden” it is bearing on the train tickets to make passengers aware of the “real cost” involved in the travel.
Even though in the past, lPG gas consumers have voluntarily offered to opt out from the subsidy scheme on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal, this is perhaps one such case for the Railways which has now made the country’s largest transporter think about going along the lines of gas consumers.
“This case has made us think whether it will be alright to give an option during the reservation procedure to the passenger to either avail the subsidy or travel by paying full fare to the Indian Railways,’’ said a senior Railway officer.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who has been informed about this, has instructed the officials to examine and also convey his best wishes to Kher who saw the light and now has become a contributor to the development of Indian Railways.
“I was pained to learn from my e-ticket that a common taxpayer is carrying a burden of 43 per cent of my travel.
Ever since I arrived at my residence I have been feeling the pain on this count. I appreciate the Government for giving us senior citizen status, but I personally feel that there should be no financial benefit for those who can do without it,” said Kher in his letter to the Railway Minister.
Kher, a resident of Faridabad, had travelled by Jammu Rajdhani last month. Besides enclosing a cheque of Rs 950, Kher vowed in his letter to Prabhu that now on he and his wife would not travel on subsidised fare.
“We recover 57 per cent in passenger service and 37 per cent in suburban services and this is reflected on our tickets now,” said the official.
Describing it as a “step towards awareness,” the official said this will make passengers realise the real cost involved in train travel and how much of the burden the Railways is bearing.
“Awareness is a must as it will lead to the rationalisation of fares which is required for the survival of the Railways,” added the official.
Now all Indian Railways train tickets, including unreserved ones, have the information about the subsidy involved in the journey.
Currently the loss in the passenger segment is Rs 34,000 crore annually which is met through cross-subsidy from freight earnings.