Senior citizens of Baleswar began their pilgrimage free of cost on Thursday under the State Government scheme for them.
About 100 pilgrims moved by two buses which were flagged off by district Collector Pramod Das. The pilgrims would visit Varanasi and Allahabad and return on September 28. They would initially go to Bhubaneswar by bus and then to the north India destinations by a special train. Assistant Tourist Officer Amiya Sethi and an officer of the Collectorate accompanied the tourists to look after their comforts.
While applications were invited in two phases through advertisement by the Tourism Department, from Baleswar district 293 applications were received. After scrutiny, 114 were shortlisted for the trip.