The railways, which takes a Rs 35,000-crore hit annually so you can enjoy subsidised fares, is urging people to renounce this concession under its 'Give it up' scheme.
Ever wonder why a train ticket is so cheap? Because you only pay roughly half the cost the railways incurs in ferrying you. The rest is footed by the Indian Railways. But it may now be time to wean off of the dole.
The railways, which takes a Rs 35,000-crore hit annually so you can enjoy subsidised fares, is urging people to renounce this concession under its 'Give it up' scheme.
The move, among the 11 vital proposals that are part of the railways' 100-day action plan, is along the lines of the Ujjwala Yojana launched in 2016. Under the Prime Minister's scheme, people were urged to give away their extra cooking gas connections to the poor.
The railways are working on a system where people booking long-distance tickets will be given two options: 'Purchase ticket without subsidy' and 'Purchase ticket with subsidy'. Those who opt for the former will bear a higher cost for the journey.
"We are giving a blanket subsidy to all passengers which costs around Rs 35,000 crore annually. This can be reduced under 'Give It Up ' scheme," said a senior railway official.
This is over and above the concessions given to senior citizens, students, cancer patients, defence personnel and others.
The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Railways, has been asked to tweak the IRCTC software to reflect the 'without subsidy' option on the ticketing website.
In the meantime, a massive awareness campaign will be launched on digital and traditional (television, print and radio) media, and railways' public announcement systems exhorting people to renounce the subsidy.
PC Sehgal, former chairman and managing director of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, said: "People don't usually give up concession. The railways will have to look at a hike in passenger fares, which has not happened for a long time. The revision is required to raise funds to bear maintenance and operational costs as well as fund the various rail modernisation projects."
Like the Mumbai Urban Transport Projects, which run into tens of thousands of crores.
Experts say the rail ministry will have to provide some incentive — like improved facilities, or certain guarantees, or cashback as in the case of the Ujjwala scheme — to drive passengers to give it up.
"If they want people to volunteer to give up the subsidy, they should come out with something like Jan Dhan Yojana for giving up the LPG subsidy," said Vivek Sahai, former chairman of Railway Board.
Passenger associations view it as a pro-development measure. "A certain section of passengers feels they can do away with subsidy. This is a good move," said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.
Madhu Kotian of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh feels people won't mind the scheme if it comes with a better amenities.
What You Get Is Not What You Pay
- 53% Travel cost rlys recovers from passengers, the rest is subsidy
- Rs 1.59L cr Railways’ estimated capital expenditure for FY20, against the capital aid of Rs 64,587 cr proposed in the Budget
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