Why deny concessional rail travel to the elderly?

While MPs, MLAs and others benefit from concessional travel, have senior citizens been targeted because they are a vulnerable and voiceless group?

The decision of the Indian Railways to discontinue fare concessions to senior citizens violates the spirit of constitutional provisions and the United Nations conventions on the care for the elderly.

The Indian Railways had been providing fare concessions to 53 categories of citizens, including freedom fighters, Arjuna awardees, war widows and media persons. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a national lockdown following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, the Indian Railways announced the denial of fare concessions to all but three broad categories of train travellers: Patients, including cancer afflicted, disabled persons and students.

In its response to a Right to Information query from Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Railways stated that in the two years from March 2020 to March 2022, the transporter generated additional revenues worth Rs 1500 crore on account of the decision to do away with the concession regime. In March this year, Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw said there was no proposal to restore fare concessions for the elderly, as train fares were "already subsidised".

The subsidy regime

The Indian Railways have traditionally followed a "cross-subsidy" regime, with profits earned from freight being annually diverted to subsidise passenger fares. Vaishnaw's argument that senior citizen fares are already subsidised appears fragile on two grounds. First, passenger fare subsidy has been - and remains - applicable to all train travellers, not just senior citizens. Second, as advocate Setu Niket says, the minister's decision can be challenged on the grounds of the "arbitrariness" of the decision since only some categories of concession beneficiaries have been selectively removed from the list. MPs, MLAs, former railways ministers, rail employees and officers or members of the Passenger Amenities Committee Or the Passenger Services Committee - have all continued to benefit by way of passes for free or concessional travel. Have the senior citizens been targeted because they are a vulnerable and voiceless group? This question is being asked.

Cross subsidy, meanwhile, hardly provides for a happy situation for passengers or citizens, as higher freight rates eventually convert to a heavier financial burden on consumers. Passengers pay less for train fares but end up spending more because of the increasing consumer price index. The Railways have failed to effectively address the freight versus fare distortions, largely because of the reluctance of the elected governments to raise passenger fares because of political considerations. During the tenure of the UPA rule, Dinesh Trivedi had been the sole railways minister to have attempted to raise fares. Trivedi, then with the Trinamool Congress, had to pay a heavy price, as his party compelled him to step down as railways minister.

Shortly after the change of government in 2014, the Narendra Modi government's first Railways Minister DV Sadananda Gowda had - somewhat apologetically - announced a 28 per cent across-the-board hike in train fares - stating that he was only implementing the proposal of the previous government. In the last eight years, no further direct fare hikes have been announced, although indirect strategies to raise passenger revenues - such as running "special trains" on hiked or flexi fares - have often been resorted to. In some cases, train speeds have marginally been increased from 52 kmph to 55 kmph, for instance. Trains running at 55 kmph or above are designated as "super fast" trains, which have higher fares.

Rail finances, therefore, have been in the red because of multiple factors, including the reluctance of the political leadership to raise fares. In a recent report, the CAG has pulled up the public transporter for having spent a massive Rs 2.5 lakh crore on track improvement without having achieved the goal of raising train speeds. Costs of projects, including the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) and the Dedicated Freight Corridors, have continued to skyrocket. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed project has been suffering time and cost overruns too. The point is this: The denial of concessions to senior citizens appears to be a shoddy attempt to window dress the bigger and nastier realities of rail finances.

Why concessions to the elderly

Private airlines such as Vistara and Spicejet provide for a big discount, while the Tatas have announced a 50 per cent discount on base fares for seniors. Public sector banks, including the State Bank of India, provide higher concession rates to the elderly. The principle of "care for the elderly" finds resonance in most of the developed or capitalist nations of the world. While transportation is free for all citizens in Luxembourg, most European nations have different categories of concessions for the elderly.

Belgium offers senior discounts on non-peak travel to 65 plus travellers, while France offers a "Carte Senior plus" card to 60 plus people, which entitles them to discounts ranging from 25 to 50 per cent on train travel. Germany offers the "BahnCard'' to the 60 plus (25 to 50 per cent concession), while Italy offers the "Carta d'Argento" or silver card, which provides a 25 per cent discount for seniors in the RailEurope system. Spain's RENFE rail system offers senior travellers the " Tarjeta Dorada" (Gold Card), providing a 25-50 per cent concession on rail travel. The UK's "Senior RailCard", meanwhile, provides for one-third discount on a wide variety of standard and first-class tickets.

Most of these countries also provide senior citizen discounts on opera or theatre tickets and visits to museums or historical or cultural sites. Such policies are in consonance with internationally established principles underlying the need for state support for the elderly to enable them to live a life of dignity in their sunset years. The United Nations Principles for Older Persons provide that the elderly in society ought to have "independence, the ability to participate in society, have access to care and be entitled to self-fulfilment and the full dignity of life among other rights".

The Indian government also provides several benefits to the elderly, including tax benefits, reduced telephone charges and a simpler passport application process. Article 41 of the Constitution secures the right of senior citizens to employment, education and public assistance. In 2007, the Indian Parliament also passed the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, which provides effective and mandatory provisions for children to take responsibility for aged parents. Therefore, the denial of benefits to the elderly through discounted train tickets appears dichotomous.

The UN estimates are that the number of 60 plus people will increase from 600 million in 2000 to over 2 billion in 2050. In developing countries, the numbers of senior citizens are estimated to triple in the next 40 years, while the aged population is projected to rise rapidly in India and other Southeast Asian countries. The UN, therefore, has been pressing member states to adopt a specific resolution on older people's rights, as the "lack of policies to address these issues is condemning millions of older people to live a life of poverty". Given the population growth trends of the elderly and the correspondingly increasing financial burden on the government, it is understandable that the Indian Railways can review its concession fare policy. But the outright denial of concession fares to the elderly appears unjustified.

(Srinand Jha is a journalist based in Delhi)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors' own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.