Lifting concession for senior citizens in Indian Railways unfortunate: Congress
Decision should be rolled back: Bhalla
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Reacting over the recent address of the Indian railways minister Ashwani Vaishnav’s in the Lok Sabha, that there will be no railway concession for senior citizens in 2022 , PCC Working President Raman Bhalla termed it unfortunate and reflects the mindset of Modi Govt. towards Senior Citizens. As per Minister’s statement this exemption from concession was lifted amid the pandemic for some time, but is now back in effect, and will remain so until told otherwise.
Bhalla said that UPA Govt. had granted many concessions for senior citizens including railway fare etc. He said the loss to the railways is due to the wrong polices of the Modi Govt. and the senior citizens should not be made scapegoat for the wrongs of the Govt. This decision should be rolled back in the larger interest of the old age people who under take journey for pilgrimage purpose in their last days of life, especially those who are poor and cannot afford expenses.
Raman Bhalla was speaking in the meeting of functionaries of District Congress Committee Jammu Urban which was held here today at PCC HQ Shahidi Chowk Jammu. Threadbare discussions were held on the organizational affairs and activities besides various other issues of public importance especially rising unemployment, inflation, lack of the development came under the discussion.
The meeting was attended by PCC General Secretary Yogesh Sawhney, Former MLC Ved Mahajan, Dr. Ramakant Khajuria, Amrit Bali, Chander Sheikhar Sharma, Pawan Sharma, Sanjeev Sharma, Atul Sharma, Darshan Verma, Anil Kumar, Pawan Bhagat and others.
Speaking on the occasion Raman Bhalla said that BJP Government at the Centre has failed on all fronts and now the Govt. is misusing the Central agencies against the opposition leaders especially the Congress party. He said that the entire country is witnessing the targeted political vendetta against Hon’ble Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi by the Modi and the BJP Government to distract the focus away from its failures of governance. He said there is the rule of untruth and injustice in the country. Whoever raises his or her voice has to bear the brunt of the government’s anger.
Bhalla said, the politics of disorientation and false propaganda have become the hallmark of the functioning of the Modi government.”The eighth year of Modi government stands at a stage where the citizens of the country are forced to suffer the countless wounds and ruthless insensitivity inflicted by the government. He lashed out at the Central Govt for the unprecedented price hike and record unemployment besides failing to address the grievances of people of J&K on every count after promising massive development post-August 5, 2019. Alleging that Jammu and Kashmir has suffered the most under the BJP regime, Bhalla asserted that in the run-up to the assembly elections, the Congress will intensify its ideological fight against BJP and its policies towards the union territory.
Hitting hard the BJP and its state leadership for cheating the people of Jammu, he said that the BJP has lost the moral right to go to Jammu people after betrayal after betrayal. Stating that Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has “cheated” people of Jammu, he accused the Union government of reducing the status of people of the region to “fourth-class citizens” even when they voted the party to power in Assembly and Parliamentary polls.
Yogesh Sawhney said that the politics of hate is being practiced by those who never took part in our country’s freedom movement, and whose ideologies resulted in the assassination of the Father of the Nation, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is being launched as a nationwide movement to unite the country. He asked the party functionaries of Dis. Congress Committee Jammu Urban to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be started on 2nd October 2022, the birth anniversary of father of nation Mahatma Gandhi.
