After pandemic pause, Delhi govt’s free pilgrimage resumes, train leaves for Guj

The train carrying the 1,000 elderly pilgrims from Delhi was flagged off from Safdarjung railway station at 7pm.

Nearly a month after it was halted due to the Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 wave in the Capital, the first batch of 1,000 pilgrims under the Delhi government’s Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna for the elderly left for Gujarat’s Dwarka on Monday evening.

The scheme started in July 2019 and so far, 41,000 people have been taken to different routes for pilgrimage. In picture - Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the first train to Ayodhya under the 'Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana' at Safdarjung Railway Station, (HT Photo)

The train carrying the 1,000 elderly pilgrims from Delhi was flagged off from Safdarjung railway station at 7pm.

Another train with 1,000 pilgrims will leave for Rameshwaram on February 18, said Kamal Bansal, chairman of Delhi government’s Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti.

Under the scheme, people aged 60 years and above are sent on pilgrimage to 15 routes on trips fully sponsored by the Delhi government.

The government pays for travel, accommodation and other expenses of each pilgrim who can also take along an attendant with them.

Under the scheme, the Delhi government sanctioned ₹81.45 crore of which ₹66.92 crore was spent in 2020-21.

The scheme started in July 2019 and so far, 41,000 people have been taken to different routes for pilgrimage. Due to rising number of Covid-19 cases in the Capital, the Delhi government paused the pilgrimage to Tamil Nadu’s Vailankanni on January 7.