RailEnquiry

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the State Government and the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the Mukhyamantri Teerth-Darshan Yojna here on Wednesday. The scheme is the first of its kind in the country for helping senior citizens undertake pilgrimage trips.

The MoU was signed by Principal Secretary, Revenue, Religious Trusts and Endowments, Basant Pratap Singh, on behalf of the State Government and IRCTC's General Manager Virendra Singh in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Describing it as historic, Chouhan said that religion was the soul of this country. As many as 60,000 senior citizens would be sent on pilgrimage trips this year, he said.

Under the scheme, places of pilgrimage of all religions have been identified for senior citizens above 60 years of age. The responsibility of Teerth-Yatra has been entrusted to the Railways. Under the MoU signed today, arrangements for pilgrims’ journey, food, insurance, medical treatment, guide, etc will be made.

Chouhan also said that mass campaign for freeing the state's lifeline, Narmada river of pollution would be launched from the next Dev Uthhani Gyaras. The campaign would begin from the river’s originating point at Amarkantak and Narmada river would be freed of pollution all along its course up to Gulf of Khambat.

The first train under Madhya Pradesh’s unique Mukhyamantri Teerth-Yatra Yojna would leave for Rameshwaram from Habibganj Railway Station on September 3. Senior citizens from districts of Bhopal and Narmadapuram divisions, including Hoshangabad, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Betul and Harda districts would be included for the trip.

The selected centres of pilgrimage under the scheme include Badrinath, Kedarnath, Jagannath Puri, Dwarkapuri, Haridwar, Amarnath, Vaishnodevi, Shirdi, Tirupati, Ajmer Sharif, Kashi (Varanasi), Gaya, Amritsar, Rameshwaram, Sammved-Shikhar, Shravan Belgola and Velangadi Church, Nagapattnam (Tamil Nadu).