Delhi Govt Announces Free Pilgrimage For Senior Citizens To Velankanni Church, Katarpur Sahib

Delhi government will provide free pilgrimage to senior citizens belonging to Christian and Sikh communities to Velankanni and Katarpur Sahib in January 2022. The announcement was made on Friday, November 26.

Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna

As per a release by the Office of the Minister of Revenue, Tamil Nadu's Velankanni and Kartarpur Sahib in the Punjab province of Pakistan were both added to the "Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna" after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's announcement.

On January 5, 2022, the first batch of these passengers will leave for Kartarpur Sahib in a deluxe bus from the national capital. Meanwhile, the first train for Velankanni is set to leave on January 7, 2022.

"Recently, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced to include Kartarpur Sahib and Velankanni in this list. After this, the Delhi government has included Kartarpur Sahib and Velankanni in addition to Ayodhya in the Tirth Yojna,"

Delhi Govt's official statement was quoted as saying by ANI.

Meanwhile, revenue Minister Shri Kailash Gahlot in a high-level meeting also reviewed the preparations for the launch of Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna.

Furthermore, senior officers from Revenue Department, Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), IT Department, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti were all present during the meeting as well.

What Is It?

Back on July 12, 2019, Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna was officially launched by CM Arvind Kejriwal. Under the earlier-mentioned scheme, the Government of Delhi offers travel packages for pilgrimage to senior citizens from the state for free.

Nearly 1,100 residents per assembly constituency can take benefit from this facility in a year, which is subject to the cap of 77,000 Yatris per year in total. Since its launch, 35,080 beneficiaries have so far travelled under this scheme, as per the official release.

Other Similar Schemes

The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) also takes pilgrims on darshan tours, however, through its paid package schemes. According to the information shared by the Corporation talks about Ashtavinayak Tour on November 18, 2019 and Tirupati Balaji Tour from July 2018. M/s Seabird Travel, an empanelled travel agency to conduct Tirupati Balaji tour, also is known for carrying out Balaji Darshan Tour daily. However, it did come to a halt during the COVID Pandemic between March 2020 to January 2021.

GTDC also carried out 10 trips of the Ashtavinayak Tour up to February 2020, however, that came to stop during the pandemic with the Tirupati tour resuming later from June 2021.

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