Senior Citizens Demand from Railway Budget 2011:Letter to Railway Minister by All India Senior Citizens Confederation (AISCCON)

January 10, 2011

Hon. Smt. Mamta Banerjee,
Railway Minister,
Govt. of India,
Rail Bhavan
New Delhii-110001

Respected Madam,


Re:Railway budget for 2011-12 vis a vis expectations of Senior Citiens

On behalf of All India Senior Citizens Confederation (AISCCON) we the undersigned, present our hearty Seaon’s Greetings and wish to place before your good self few major expectations of the elderly community for your sympathetic and favourable consideration. Madam, we are fully aware of your benevolent approach towards the under-privileged and neglected sections of the society and therefore, we feel confident that you will positively take the same approach towards the Senior Citizens who today form 9% [10 crore] of the total population. According to a survey 66% of them are below the poverty line and majority suffer with age related disabilities and therefore, their problems deserve your special consideration. In view of this we like to place before you our following requests:

1] Concession in fares of Passenger Trains:
Concession in rail fares are not available for passenger trains, with the results the rural poor Senior Citizens, who pre-dominantly travel in these trains are excluded from this benefits. Please therefore, consider to include the said concession in your ensuing budget.

2] 50% Concession to male Senior Citizens also:
Female Sr. Citizens (50+) have been availing 50% concession in rail fares for the last 2-3 years, while the male Senior. Citizens have been retained at 30%. We request you to please remove this anomaly and grant 50% concession to male Senior Citizens [60+] also.

3] Concession in reservation charges and Tatkal fares also:
Like concessions in Rail fares, it is advocated that same concessions may be considered in respect of reservation charges and also in Tatkal fares. You will please appreciate that the reservation charges are also the integral parts of the travel expenses..

4] One free attendant to be permitted to accompany the Oldest old Senior Citizens [85+]:
The 85+ Senior Citizens usually suffer with age related physical disabilities and require the help of an attendant. We request that an attendant may be permitted to travel free with them to assist and help them. Similar facility is provided to the physically disabled and the Freedom Fighters.

5] Provision of escalators on important stations and ramps on others:
In one of the previous rail Budget, there was an announcement that escalators would be installed on stations but this facility is yet to be installed at most of the stations. It is often a torture for senior Citizens to climb up the platform bridges with luggage. Provision of this facility will be a great boon for the Senior Citizens, elderly women, the sick and the disabled. Where escalators can not be installed, provision of ramps may be considered..

6] Provision of separate Compartment for Senior Citizens in local trains:
The local trains are often so much crowded that it becomes impossible for Senior Citizens to get into the train. In view of the same problem separate compartments are provided for the disabled and women. We request that same facility may be provided exclusively for Senior Citizens also.
Though in Mumbai Metro trains restricted time reservation [12PM to 5PM] is available, yet it is not very useful because the passengers do not vacate the seats. Therefore, we request that a compartment exclusively reserved for senior citizens should be provided for the whole day.

For the overall welfare of the Elderly Community we earnestly request you to please consider our requests favourably and for this act of kindness we shall remain ever grateful.

With Blessings from the Elderly Community and regards,

Yours faithfully,


R.N. Mital
President ,
All India Senior Citizens’ Confederation [AISCCON]


1. Sri Mukul Wasnik, Hon’ble Minister, MOSJE
2. Shri E. Ahmed, Minister of State, Ministry of Railways, Rail Bhavan,
New Delhi;
3. Shri K.H. Miniyappa, Minister of State, Ministry of Railways, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi;
4. The Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Railways, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi;
5. Sri Sitaraman, IAS, Secretary, MOSJE
6. Shri Milind Deora, M.P., ;
7. Smt. Priya Dutt, M.P., MP
8. Dr. Sanjeev Naik, M.P., Navi MP
9. Sri Anand P. Paranjape, MP
10. Prof. M.S.Swaminathan, M.P.
11. Sri. Srinivas Rao, MP
12. Sri. Vijaya Jawahar Lal, MP
13. Smt. Ratna Bai Tadapatla , MP
14. Sri Pradeep Mathur, MLA, Mathura