The Arvind Kejriwal Government will be sending elderly pilgrims for Jagannath Puri Yatra in Odisha under its free pilgrimage scheme the “Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana”. A train carrying senior citizens will depart on July 11. Another train will depart on July 28. Meanwhile, Delhi Government’s scheme to offer its senior citizens free pilgrimage to Velankanni Church in Tamil Nadu has received a dull response.
The general public was not allowed to take part in the Rath Yatra in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, but the restrictions were later lifted. This year, the yatra kicked off from July 1. Kamal Bansal, chairman of the Delhi government's Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti, said, "The Jagannath Puri Yatra is very popular. On the instructions of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, free pilgrimage is being provided to senior citizens and now they will get an opportunity to visit the historic yatra. In the month of July, specially two trains will leave for the yatra."
Meanwhile, Delhi government’s scheme to free pilgrimage to Velankanni Church in Tamil Nadu has received a dull response. According to officials, they have only received 500-600 applications ever since the scheme resumed following a disruption due to the third wave of coronavirus in January this year. “There need to be at least 1,000 applicants for the pilgrimage," the officials said. Last November, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced the addition of the popular church in its list of pilgrimage sites under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana.
"We were getting requests from our Christian brothers to add some pilgrimage sites to the scheme. We have decided to include Velankanni Church to the scheme," Kejriwal had said. Also known as the 'Lourdes of the East', the church is one of the most revered sites for Christians in the country. However, officials close to the development said there have been fewer applications.
The scheme was introduced in July 2019, but suspended due with the outbreak of COVID-19. It was resumed last December after nearly 23 months.
However, it was disrupted again in the first week of January due to the third wave of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant and resumed on February 14 with the flagging off of a Dwarka-Somnath train.
The official said the feeble response to the Velankanni pilgrimage could be due to lack of awareness or that only fewer senior citizens from the Christian community might be residing in the national capital. Overall, 63,077 beneficiaries have availed the scheme under which the government fully sponsors pilgrimages to people aged 60 years and above on 15 routes.
The government pays for travel, accommodation and other expenses of each pilgrim, who can also take along an attendant with them. Each train carries nearly 1,000 people.