Sr citizen pilgrimage may resume mid Feb

The scheme was halted in January amid rise in Covid cases

New Delhi, Feb. 2: With Covid cases declining across the country and normal activities resuming, Delhi government’s ‘Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna’ facilitating free pilgrimage is also likely to resume from mid February, officials on Wednesday said.

The scheme was halted in January amid rise in the Covid cases. As a result of the disruption, a train of pilgrims, scheduled for the Basilica of Our Lady of Health in Tamil Nadu’s Vailankanni on January 7, had also got cancelled.

“The number of coronavirus cases has been going down fast and temples are opened now. We have talked to the railways officials and sought trains after February 10,” said Kamal Bansal, chairman of Delhi government’s Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti.

Bansal said most of the demands from the senior citizens for religious places like Dwarkadhish and Rameswaram where temples were open for visitors.

Under the scheme, 11 train trips to different pilgrim sites were planned in January but could not take place due to the third wave of Covid, Bansal said.

Trains, including one for Kartarpur Sahib route, as well as those scheduled to go to Amritsar, Ayodhya, and Rameswaram in January also got cancelled, Bansal said. “Now we will have to again work out schedules for trains as there are already thousands of pending applications due to cancelled trips,” he said.

Under the scheme, people aged 60 years and above can apply to go on pilgrimages — along 15 routes — fully sponsored by Delhi government. The government pays for the travel, accommodation, and other expenses for each pilgrim, who are also allowed to take along an attendant with them. The scheme, halted during second wave, was resumed with a train of pilgrims leaving for Ayodhya on December 3, 2021.

Pilgrims also went to Rameswaram and Dwarka before the Covid applied brake on the scheme again. Under the scheme, Delhi government has sanctioned `81.45 crore, of which `66.92 crore were spent in 2020-21. So far nearly 38,000 senior citizens have benefitted from the scheme, government informed the Delhi Assembly in its recent session.