The first group of pilgrims under ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ of the State Government is to visit Puri and Bhubaneswar in the month of November this year.
“We are planning to send as many as 1,000 pilgrims to Puri and Bhubaneswar probably in mid-November through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC),” said Tourism Secretary Satendra Singh. “Before that, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to be signed between Tourism Department and IRCTC on September 6,” he added.
Notably, to facilitate elderly poor to go on pilgrimage on government expenses, Jharkhand Cabinet on Tuesday last gave its approval for ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yojana’ under which people above the age of 60 years coming under BPl category will be sent on pilgrimage.
Eligibility criteria for the person to be sent on pilgrimage, however, will be decided by the Deputy Commissioner at the district level on first come first serve basis.
Singh said that all the DC’s have been asked to forward the list to the tourism department as per the criteria fixed by the cabinet. “The persons interested must be above 60 years coming under BPl category. Elderly couples will be given priority over single applicants,” said the Secretary. There is also a provision of taking an attendant along with them if they feel so, he said.
According to Singh, in order to make people aware of this ambitious programme of the State Government, proper publicity will be done through media advertisements and hoardings.
When asked about choosing Puri as the first location for this programme, Singh cleared that Puri being nearest from Jharkhand, people would definitely like to visit the place at once. “We will also learn something from the shortcomings arising during this short trip, if any, before planning for somewhere else which will not exceed from 2-3 days,” he said.
The Secretary further said that the pilgrims will be picked up from Ranchi Railway Station and will be dropped back there only. Before boarding the train everyone will be given a kit having articles of their daily use like sops, combs and towels etc and the pilgrims need not spend a single penny during the tour as everything, including their lodging and food will be taken care by the State Government, he said.
“The buses standing at the Railway Station will pick and drop them back there. Guides will also be provided to them which will explain the importance of the place which they were visiting,” Singh said. The pilgrims could also be accommodated in hotels or rest houses during their tour, if required, he said.
Under this programme, any citizen of this state above the age of 60 years coming under BPl category will be facilitated by the State Government to go on pilgrimage twice in his life to the destinations located both inside and outside the State with a precondition that there must be a gap of two years between the two pilgrimages.
Places which have been listed for the purpose include – Rajrappa, Deoghar, Sammed Shikher, Basukinath, Maluti and Itkhori in Jharkhand while destinations outside the state include places like – Dwarika, Puri, Bhubneshwar, Tirupati, Madurai, Remeshwaram, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Vaishno Devi, Jammu, Shirdi, Amritsar, Agra, Fetehpur Shikri, Amritsar, Shravan Belgola, Belantini Church, Nagpattanam etc, he said.
There is also a provision of travel insurance for the person going on pilgrimage. A sum of Rs 1.6 core has been sanctioned for the implementation of this programme.