SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Feb. 11: The train with around 900 Muslim pilgrims will leave for Ajmer sharif, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri from the Ranchi railway station on February 15.
The week-long travel is being conducted under Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana, resumed by the Hemant Soren government after a gap of four years. The state government has signed an MoU with IRCTC for this.
A maximum of 1000 BPL senior citizens are entitled to avail this facility, but around 100 slots have remained vacant as the Ramgarh district has not sent the list of pilgrims owing to the by-election scheduled to be held on February 27, pointed out a Tourism department official.
The scheme had been launched by the Raghubar Das government in 2016, taking a cue from the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh. The then BJP government had conducted seven religious tours for the BPL elders above 60 years of age drawn from Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities till 2018.
However, it had been discontinued during the Corona period and no pilgrims could avail this facility from 2019 to 2022. The JMM-led government resumed it this year and chose to send the Muslim pilgrims first, said the official.
Meanwhile, the State tourism department has floated a notice for the Hindu pilgrims also and asked them to apply till February 16.
Under this scheme, senior citizens of any religion can visit two religious places of his/her choice in the state and outside on the state government expenses. All sorts of medical, food and lodging facilities are given to the devotees during the Yatra. The travel and accommodation are taken care of by the IRCTC department. The Jharkhand Government has tied up with IRCTC for this Yojana.
Under this scheme the eligible beneficiaries will be able to choose two religious places that they want to visit, and the rest will be taken care of by the state government. The chosen place can be within the state or outside the state but has to be within the country limit.
This facility can be availed once in a lifetime by the citizens and it is applicable for the people above the 60 only. In case the pilgrim is above the age of 65 years then he or she can be accompanied by an attendant.
The first trip under this scheme
As a part of this scheme 1000 eligible people of the state went to Puri and Bhubaneswar, without spending any money on the trip, as it was taken care of by the state government of Jharkhand. Puri has the temple of Lord Jaganath and is one of the most visited pilgrimage places of the country.
These places were selected for pilgrimage
The state government has selected Rajrappa, Deoghar, Sammed Shikhar, Basukinath, Maluti, Itkhori under this scheme under Jharkhand state. On the other hand, Dwarka, Somnath, Puri, Tirupati, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Haridwar and Rishikesh, Vaishno Devi, Shirdi, Signapur, Nashik, Ajmer Sharif, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Amritsar Golden Temple, Shravanabelagola, for pilgrimage places outside the state of Jharkhand. Goa (Basilica of Bom Jesus) and Velankanni Church Nagapattinam have been selected.
