West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw requesting him to revert to the old fare in the Azimganj-Katwa section in the state, stating that people who live in that area are poor and unable to afford tickets at a higher rate.
Banerjee said she has received an appeal from the Eastern Railway Passengers Association, Azimganj-Katwa section in the Howrah division, informing her that fare in that section was increased from Rs 10 to Rs 32 during the Covid pandemic period and that is still continuing.
"I would like to draw your kind attention to the fact that the population of Murshidabad district and its surroundings are very poor. They can hardly afford tickets at higher rates, since most of them are daily wage workers belonging to the BPL category and they need to travel from home to their place of work every day," she wrote.
Azimganj is in Murshidabad district while Katwa falls in Purba Bardhaman district. Stating that the Eastern Railway has not paid any heed to the request of the Passengers' Association, Banerjee in her letter referred to the 2009-10 budget which she had presented as the railway minister and announced 'Izzat', a scheme of concessions for very poor people, which was withdrawn later.
"I understand that the (Izzat) scheme has since been withdrawn, thereby adversely affecting the poor section of the society," the letter read. Banerjee was the railway minister twice, first in 1999–2000 and then in 2009–2011.
