Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday said that the Central Government will be requested to provide concession in Railway fares for the passengers going on pilgrimage tours under ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’.
Singh also assured that he would write a letter to Union Railway Minister in this context while chairing the meeting of the Committee of the scheme held at the Mantralaya here.The Chief Minister said that he would also request for a railway fare concession for beneficiaries of ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Bharat Darshan Yojana.’
Singh said that he would request Railway Minister to add a separate coach in the trains for the disabled passengers going on tour under ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Bharat Darshan Yojana.’Notably, within just one-and-a-half years of launching of State Government’s ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’, nearly 78,652 people of Chhattisgarh have availed the benefits of the scheme to visit a number of holy places across India.
A total of 71,500 people out of these were senior citizens and remaining were their accompanists or assistants. The scheme was started on January 15, 2013 during financial year 2012-13. Amending the provisions of the schemes, disabled people of age 18 years or above have also been included as eligible beneficiaries.
During the meeting, Social Welfare Department officials informed that within just three months i.e. till March 2013 in the initial year of this scheme, as many as 14,390 senior citizens availed the opportunity of visiting major pilgrimage spots in India.Whereas, during the last financial year 2013-14, 66 pilgrimage tours were organized, in which 57,462 elderly people availed the benefits of the scheme. likewise, in the current financial year 2014-15, till date 6800 elderly people have gone on pilgrimage during the eight tours organized under the scheme.
Officials informed that during each pilgrimage tour, arrangement for total 1000 passengers including elderly people of age 60 years or above and their accompanist/assistants are made.In the meeting Social Welfare Minister Ramsheela Sahu, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand and Social Welfare Department Secretary Dinesh Shrivastav and other senior officials were also present.
The Chief Minister praised the achievements of officials in implementation of the scheme, and said that from now on, a group photo of passengers going on tours organized under the scheme will be taken.He said that this scheme of State Government includes 80 per cent senior citizens of BPl category and 20 per cent senior citizens of APl, who are non income-taxpayers.
Officials informed in the meeting that ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’ was launched on January 15, 2013. Under the scheme, 66 tours were held in four phases in year 2013-14.As many as 18,946 passengers in first phase, 19,238 passengers in second phase, 9,123 passengers in third phase and 10,155 passengers in fourth phase were taken on free tour to major pilgrimage spots in the country.
This includes tours to Shirdi, Shani-Singhnapur, Trayambakeshwar, Tirupati, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Dwarika, Somnath, Nageshwar, Jagannathpuri, Bhuvaneshwar, Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Haridwar, Hrishikesh, Vaishnav Devi, Mathura, Vrindavan, Prayag, Kashi, Velangani church Nagapatnam, Samvedshikhar, Baijnath Dham, Shravan Belgola, Golden Temple Amritsar, Ganga Sagar, Kali Mandir Dakshineshwar, Sarnath and Nalanda.Special trains are arranged for passengers going on tours under the scheme, with the help of IRCTC-an undertaking of Central Government.
Buses are arranged to take passengers from Railway station to pilgrimage spots, which are not directly connected through Railway routes. IRCTC also provides facility of breakfast, lunch, drinking water, accommodation and emergency medical services to the passengers.Officials informed in the meeting that owing to the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct during Assembly polls in October-November 2013 and general elections from March this year, the tours under the scheme were postponed.