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Free train travels of sitting and former Lok Sabha MPs over the past five years have cost the exchequer ₹62 crore, which included nearly ₹2.5 crore in the pandemic-hit 2020-21, according to information revealed under the RTI Act.
In the response to a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said it has received a bill of ₹35.21 crore from the Railways for the travel of sitting MPs and ₹26.82 crore for former MPs during 2017-2018 to 2021-22. Additionally, the MPs and ex-MPs also used the Railway passes even during the pandemic-hit year of 2020-21 when their bill was ₹1.29 crore and ₹1.18 crore, respectively.
As per the rules, the sitting members of the Indian Parliament are entitled to use the railways' first class air-conditioned or executive class for free, their spouses too can avail free travel under certain conditions. Former MPs are also entitled to travel in any train in AC-2 tier along with a companion or in AC-1 if alone.
The Railways' pay and accounts department forwards the bills to the Lok Sabha Secretariat for processing. The Railways has recently put on hold an array of concessions it offered to certain categories of passengers including senior citizens.
While there was subdued anger among certain sections over the move, the discontinuation of the subsidy given to senior citizens has drawn a lot of ire.
According to official data, between March 20, 2020 and March 31, 2022, the Railways did not offer concessions to 7.31 crore senior citizen travellers. These included 4.46 crore males over the age of 60, and 2.84 crore females over 58 and 8,310 transgender people.