Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday flagged off the fifth pilgrimage train for senior citizens from the State Secretariat through videoconferencing, which left the Brahmapur railway station.
As many as 1,000 senior citizens from 10 southern districts of Kandhamal, Boudh, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri and Ganjam boarded the Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra train. Among them, 480 are of Ganjam district.
They would visit Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Vellore in Tamil Nadu during the yatra and would return on January 9.
Tourism Minister Ashok Panda, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Surjya Narayan Patro, Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Usha Devi, local MlAs and district administration officials were present at the railway station and flagged off the train.