Kolkata: The Indian Railways’ offer of 20 per cent discounts for Diwali and Chhath Puja travel, but none for those travelling during Durga Puja, welcomed severe criticism from Trinamool Congress (TMC) which accused the party in power at the Centre BJP of showing
“feudal mindset”.
Trinamool Congress also said that the same BJP had accused the Bengal government of not allowing Durga Puja in the state. But in reality, Durga Puja celebration in the state has reached a different height under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Puja Carnival has become an international affair. In 2021, Durga Puja in Kolkata was inscribed on UNESCO’s representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In a post on X, Trinamool Congress on Sunday wrote: “After maligning our state, insulting our language, and vilifying our people, *@BJP4India has now chosen to snub Bengal’s greatest festival. Indian Railways is quick to offer 20% discounts for Diwali and Chhath Puja travel, but when it comes to Durga Puja, they offer nothing.
This is CULTURAL APARTHEID.” It further added: “A cold message from BJP that our festivals don’t matter, our heritage doesn’t count, our pride isn’t worth acknowledging. In BJP’s feudal mindset, festivals are graded by vote-bank utility. Durga Puja doesn’t fetch them electoral dividends, so they leave it in the lurch.”
According to Railways, in order to avoid rush, ensure hassle free booking as well as facilitate passengers and redistribute the peak traffic for a larger range during peak festival seasons and ensure both side utilisation of trains, including special trains. Indian Railways have decided to formulate an experimental scheme named as round trip package for festival rush on discounted fare. This scheme will be applicable for those passengers who choose their return journey during the prescribed period. Under this scheme, rebates shall be applicable when booked for both onward and return journeys for the same set of passengers. Passenger details of the return journey will be the same as the onward journey.
As per Railways, the above booking shall be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions. The total rebates of 20 per cent shall be granted on base fare of return journey only and booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same O-D pair for both onward and return journey. No refund of fare shall be permissible for the tickets booked under this scheme.