2 lakh old people to be taken on pilgrimages annually: MP CM Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said pilgrimages are aimed at bringing happiness and spiritual bliss in the lives of elderly people.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Sunday that two lakh elderly people from the state would be taken on pilgrimages annually under a government-run scheme.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomes and seeks blessings of elderly pilgrims during a programme organised on the completion of five years of 'Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana' in Bhopal on Sunday.(PTI Photo)

“Two lakh elderly people would be taken for pilgrimages annually,” Chouhan said at a function organised to mark the fifth anniversary of ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Darshan Yojana’, a state-sponsored scheme.

Chouhan said pilgrimages are aimed at bringing happiness and spiritual bliss in the lives of elderly people.

“Sacred places are the essence of faiths and visit to them sanctify mind and soul,” Chouhan added.

As per the figures with the state government, nearly 5,03,000 elderly people - belonging to different religions were taken for pilgrimage by special trains in the last five years.

Under the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Darshan Yojana’, the senior citizens above 60 years of age can visit any of the 15 most famous pilgrimage places on the government expenses once in lifetime.

The pilgrimage places include Badrinath, Kedarnath, Puri (Jagannath), Dwaraka, Haridwar, Amaranth, Vaishno Devi, Kashi, Tirupati, Ajmer Shareef, Gaya, Shirdi, Rameshwaram, Amritsar (Sikh) and Sammed Shikhar (Jain) etc.