BJP urges Lalu to remove 'Jazia' on pilgrim tourists
New Delhi, Mar 30 (UNI) The BJP today asked Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to roll back the increased 'detention charges' of special rail coaches hired by the poor pilgrim tourists in the country from Rs 130 to an obnoxious level of Rs 900 an hour.
BJP Spokesman Prakash Javadekar in his letter to Mr Yadav said if a special train of 10 coaches were to be booked by a tour operator carrying 504 passengers for 14 days it would cost around Rs 17 lakh. After the phenomenal increase in the detention charges, the bill would be in the region of 37 lakhs which was not fair for tourists from poorer classes. "This is some sort of Jazia tax on religious pilgrims," he noted.
He said the minister had presented in the budget a scheme of Bharat Darshan Tourist Trains for poorer sections where the Railways had agreed to charge the fare on telescopic basis and not point- to- point basis which was not applicable for other tour operators to pass on the benefits to tourists. However, the recent advertisements of Bharat Darshan Tourist Trains run by the IRCTC had shown that such benefits were not passed on to the consumers.
UNI