Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday flagged off a special train carrying senior citizens for pilgrimage to Allahabad and Varanasi under State-sponsored Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra scheme here at the Bhubaneswar railway station.
Sources said more than 1,000 elderly people boarded the special train. A four-member tourist guide team and doctors were also accompanying the tourists.
The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister at the Brahmapur railway station on July 24where elderly people boarded the special train for Haridwar and Rishikesh.
The scheme would be started from Sambalpur railway station soon. Around `1.88 crore would be spent in all the three trips, sources added.
The Government is spending around `18,000 for each person in the project. While the cost of people coming under BPl category was borne by the Government, others paid 50 per cent of the expenditure.