The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’, hence enabling senior citizens to undertake free pilgrimage every year. The scheme will enable around 1,100 senior citizens from each Assembly constituency per year to undertake the free pilgrimage, the expenses for which will be borne by the government.
The proposed destinations, include Badrinath, Kedarnath, Haridwar and Mathura. While the plan currently does not include travel insurance, officials said there was consensus on the need for it, but the amount of the cover was yet to be decided.
Similar schemes have been in place in Rajasthan and Odisha for some time now. Both the states offer senior citizens the opportunity to avail the funding. While the Rajasthan government had earlier started the scheme with rail travel, it added air travel to it this year.
“It is proposed that a total of 77,000 pilgrims will be able to avail this facility every year. It is estimated that on an average the scheme will incur a cost of Rs 7,000 per pilgrim. The pilgrimage duration will be of three days and two nights,” said a senior Delhi government official.
All application forms will be available online and shall be filed online, either through the office of Divisional Commissioner or office of respective MLA or office of Tirth Yatra Committee. The selection of pilgrims will be done through a draw of lots and respective area MLA will have to certify the residents as belonging to the Capital. All other modalities will be specified in the final notification.
Under the plan, the Revenue Department would fund the trips, which would be organised through the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC).
Any resident of Delhi above 60 years of age will be eligible to avail the scheme. Those selected for pilgrimage will be covered with an insurance of Rs 2 lakh each.