Senior citizens await free pilgrimage under state scheme

The scheme, under which senior citizens are taken on pilgrimage to a host of religious sites free of cost, was launched in June 2024, when Eknath Shinde was the chief minister

MUMBAI: Jairam Waman Vaidya, a 71-year-old retired mill worker residing in Prabhadevi, has been avoiding the senior citizens’ katta at Appasaheb Marathe Chowk for the past several weeks. Though a regular at meetings at the spot over the past few years, he is wary of facing his friends now, as they tease him about their supposed trip under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Kshetra Darshan Yojana.

Though a regular at meetings at the katta over the past few years, Jairam Vaidya,is wary of facing his friends now, as they tease him about their supposed trip under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Kshetra Darshan Yojana (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The scheme, under which senior citizens are taken on pilgrimage to a host of religious sites free of cost, was launched in June 2024, when Eknath Shinde was the chief minister.

“I had brought the scheme to the notice of my 24 senior citizen friends and convinced them to apply,” Vaidya, a retired employee of Bombay Dyeing mills, told Hindustan Times.

Back in October 2024, Vaidya collected application forms for the scheme. He then filled up the forms on behalf of his 24 friends, visiting their homes to collect necessary details, and submitted them at the office of the social justice department in Chembur.

He has been following up continuously on the applications over the last six months by visiting the Chembur office. “Every time, I’m told there is no update,” said Vaidya, who did not himself apply for travel under the scheme as he has to visit his native place in Konkan regularly. “I even wrote to the social justice department regarding the pending applications, but to no avail.”

Meanwhile, friends whose homes he had visited to collect details and fill forms began questioning him.

“They have now started making fun of me and teasing me, so I have stopped going to the katta,” he said. “The pending applications have damaged my reputation,” said the senior citizen known for social work and helping people approach various government departments with applications and complaints.