Rs 62 crore: That's the train travel bill of our MPs in past 5 years
Railways sent the Lok Sabha Secretariat a bill for Rs 35.21 crore for the travel of sitting MPs and Rs 26.82 crore for former MPs for the duration of 2017-2018 to 2021-22.
FollowFree train travel by sitting and former Lok Sabha members in the last five years have cost the exchequer Rs 62 crore, information received through an Right of Information query has revealed.
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The Rs 62 crore Bill includes nearly Rs 2.5 crore incurred in the pandemic-hit 2020-21. While sitting Members of 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 Lok Sabha Secretariat, while responding to an RTI query filed by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, said that Railways had given it a bill for Rs 35.21 crore for the travel of sitting MPs and Rs 26.82 crore for former MPs for the duration of 2017-2018 to 2021-22.
According to the response, the MPs and ex-MPs also used the Railway passes even during the pandemic-hit year of 2020-21 when their bill was Rs 1.29 crore and Rs 1.18 crore, respectively.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat received the bills from the Railways' pay and accounts department.
The Railways has recently put on hold an array of concessions it offered to certain categories of passengers. In particular, the move to discontinue concessions for senior citizens has drawn a lot of ire. Between March 20, 2020 and March 31, 2022, official data reveals, 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.
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With PTI Inputs
