New Delhi: Nearly four decades after police gallantry medal recipients were first given a railway travel concession, Sena Medal, Nau Sena Medal and Vayu Sena Medal awardees have also got a comparable benefit.
The Defence Ministry approved complimentary travel for the aforesaid awardees in First Class, 2nd AC and AC Chair Car on Indian Railways.
The decision ends a long-standing anomaly in the entitlements of gallantry awardees from the armed forces.
While personnel decorated with the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry and the Police Medal for Gallantry enjoy railway concessions since 1989, recipients of the Sena Medal for Gallantry had remained outside the complimentary-pass scheme.
The latest decision was approved by the Defence Ministry in March this year, following which Army Headquarters issued guidelines for implementing the facility this week.
Under the new arrangement, recipients of the Sena Medal, Nau Sena Medal and Vayu Sena Medal for Gallantry will be entitled to lifelong complimentary travel in First Class, 2nd AC and AC Chair Car on Indian Railways, along with one companion.
The benefit will also be available to the spouse of an awardee, including a widow or widower until remarriage, and to the parents of an unmarried posthumous awardee. The financial liability for the scheme will be borne by the Ministry of Defence.
A 37-year-old disparity
The history of the railway concession for police gallantry awardees can be traced back to March 1989. The Ministry of Railways decided to provide recipients of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry and Police Medal for Gallantry a 50 per cent concession in Second Class Mail/Express fares, with the concession coming into effect from 1 April 1989.
The benefit was subsequently upgraded in February 1996 with the Railway Board introducing First Class/AC 2-tier complimentary card passes for recipients of several major gallantry awards, including the Param Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Vir Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.
Subsequently, on 29 October 1996, the Railway Board extended the First Class/AC 2-tier complimentary-pass facility to recipients of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry and Police Medal for Gallantry.
The entitlement was expanded further, including provisions for companions, spouses of deceased awardees and parents of unmarried posthumous awardees.
Armed forces sought parity
The armed forces’ demand for a similar facility can be dated back more than a decade.
In 2013, the Defence Ministry wrote to the Railway Ministry seeking the inclusion of higher gallantry awardees from the armed forces in the railway-pass scheme.
The issue was particularly significant in the case of the Sena Medal for Gallantry, which had not been included despite its position in the official Order of Precedence of medals.
The matter was also considered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In an order passed in 2015 on a petition filed by Maj Gen Tejpal Singh Bakshi (Retd), the court recorded that the Sena Medal for Gallantry is listed at serial number 22 in the Order of Precedence, while the Police Medal for Gallantry is at serial number 24.
The argument was that it was anomalous for an award ranked higher in the Order of Precedence to not receive a railway concession available to an award placed below it.
Sources in the know said that the HC had directed the authorities to resolve the anomaly. Ultimately, after the HC orders, the railways agreed to grant the benefit to Sena Medal Gallantry awardees if the defence ministry agreed to reimburse the amount.
“Eleven years after the HC directions, both ministries have finally resolved the matter,” a source explained.
The March 2026 decision now extends the railway entitlement to the three services’ corresponding gallantry medals.
Sources explained that the change represents more than a new welfare benefit and closes a long-standing gap between the railway entitlements available to police gallantry awardees and their armed forces counterparts.
(Edited by Nivedita Patil)