new delhi a parliamentary standing committee has urged the railway ministry to resume the concession in train fare to senior citizens travelling in sleeper and ac3 classes considering that the covid19 situation has normalised it said this would help the vulnerable and genuinely needy citizensthis is the second time when the panel on railways headed by radha mohan singh has made this recommendation to empathically consider the resumption of concessions in fares to senior citizens particularly in sleeper class and 3a classthe concessions were withdrawn after the outbreak of covid19 pandemic in march 2020 prior to this the railways used to offer a 40 discount in fare to males over 60 years and 50 concession to females above 58 years these concessions were allowed in the fares of all classes of mail express rajdhani shatabdi and duranto group of trainsthe panel observed that from the information furnished by the railways the covid situation has now been normalised and the railways have achieved normal growthin response to a question the railway ministry had said covid19 pandemic has adversely affected the financial condition of railways the government gave subsidies of rs 59837 crore on passenger tickets in 201920 this amounts to a concession of 53 on an average to every person travelling on railways this subsidy is continuing for all passengers further concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like divyangjans students and patients