After gas subsidy, Modi govt may now ask people to give up railway subsidy

The Railways has proposed the move to boost its earnings

By: News Desk |
December 8, 2016 7:09 pm

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to give up their subsidy on cooking gas. Till April 2016, over 1 crore users had followed Modi’s call and voluntarily gave up the subsidy.

This time, the Modi government might urge you to give up your subsidy on Railway tickets too. As per reports, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has proposed people to give up their fare subsidy voluntarily, give up special weekend fares and also last-minute discounts on vacant berths.

The Railways has proposed the move to boost its earnings. However, no decision has been made as yet. A new structure is being thought out and the pilot project is likely to be reserved only for e-tickets.

Several steps are being taken to refurbish the Indian Railways which is running into losses. As per a report by NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, “improving accountability, decentralising power and setting up an independent regulator are among the most important elements when it comes to changing the look of the Indian Railways.

In an attempt to work out the cost of running 16 trains – Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durontos – the Debroy committee found that half the trains are running at a loss. It was found that on average, across the 16 trains, every train runs a loss of Rs 1.7 lakh per trip.