NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch the first yatra under Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana on July 12, said Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday. The scheme covers five corridors that include, Delhi - Mathura - Vrindavan - Agra - Fatehpur Sikri; Delhi - Haridwar - Rishikesh – Neelkanth; Delhi - Ajmer – Pushkar; Delhi - Amritsar - Wagah Border - Anandpur Sahib and Delhi - Vaishno Devi – Jammu. The Delhi government had launched the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana on January 9, 2018.
Announcing the first two yatras under the scheme, Gahlot said, "The government has received a good response for two corridors. The first yatra on the Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah Border-Anandpur Sahib corridor will be flagged off by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the July 12 from the Safdarjung station. The second tour on the Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu corridor, will be from July 20 to 24."
Gahlot said, "Under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra scheme, the government will bear the entire expenditure for all yatris, including air conditioned train travel, accommodation, meals, boarding and lodging and other arrangements. One attendant above the age of 21 years can accompany each yatri."
Gahlot announced that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet all yatris on July 4 at the Delhi Secretariat. He said, "The Chief Minister will meet the yatris and take their suggestions and views on this scheme. The scheme is an opportunity for senior citizens in the city who have not yet got an opportunity to go on a religious pilgrimage."
Commenting on the details of this scheme, Revenue Minister Gahlot said, "It's a one time opportunity and one person can avail this scheme only once. The government is also planning to expand the scheme after it has received requests for Tirupati Balaji, Rameshwaram and Shirdi. A cabinet decision may be taken in the future to expand this scheme."
This is the first time the Delhi government is implementing a pilgrimage scheme of this kind.
Commenting on the planning and execution that has gone into the scheme, Gahlot said, "A lot of work has been done to develop the software. The revenue department received applications from all over Delhi, which were processed thoroughly. The approved applications were transferred to the Delhi Tourism Department, which examined them and sent them to IRCTC. Once the applications were finalized, the Delhi Tourism Department and IRCTC initiated the booking process."