The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh will take some senior citizens on free pilgrimage by air to the state as part of its ongoing scheme and the exercise will begin on May 21, months ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) assembly elections. State.
An official said the move is part of the Chouhan government’s flagship ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana’, which was launched in June 2012.
Till now the beneficiaries of the scheme were taken to various religious places by trains. But now air travel will also be added to it.
The opposition Congress, however, said the new move was nothing but a political gimmick by the BJP government ahead of elections.
Elections to the 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh are scheduled for later this year.
Under this scheme, under the new scheme, eligible beneficiaries of 25 districts (out of total 52 in the state) will be made to travel by air to various destinations between May 21 and July 19. Rajesh Rajora said on Friday.
Beneficiaries will be able to undertake pilgrimage to various destinations allotted to them. These places are Prayagraj, Shirdi, Mathura-Vrindavan and Gangasagar. They will be taken to these religious places by regular service flights, he added.
A total of 33 seats will be reserved for each district. Rajora said that 32 of these seats would be beneficiaries, one for an escort officer in each flight, adding that the scheme would be implemented with the help of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
He said that a tour manager nominated by IRCTC would also accompany the beneficiaries of the scheme.
Under this flagship scheme of the Chouhan government, till now the beneficiaries were taken on pilgrimage by trains. An official said that now the option of flights is being included in this.
He said that to avail the benefits of the scheme, the age of the beneficiaries should be 65 years and above, and should not be income tax payer.
He said that if the administration receives more applications than the quota allotted for each district, the beneficiaries will be selected through a lottery system.
State Congress media cell head KK Mishra targeted the Chouhan government over the move.
Congress state media cell president KK Mishra said, “This is nothing but a political stunt. The BJP government is offering lollipops to woo voters in an election year.”
Officials said flights to these pilgrimage sites would be operated from Bhopal or Indore airport.
The first of these flights will fly from Bhopal to Prayagraj on 21 May. Agar will fly from Malwa to Shirdi on May 23, Betul to Vrindavan on May 25, Dewas to Shirdi on May 26 and Shirdi from June 3. Khandwa to Gangasagar, Harda to Prayagraj on June 4, Mandsaur to Shirdi on June 6 and Narmadapuram to Mathura-Vrindavan on June 8.
Neemuch to Shirdi on June 9, Barwani to Gangasagar on June 15, Indore to Gangasagar on June 16, Damoh to Prayagraj on June 18, Burhanpur to Gangasagar on June 19, Ratlam on June 19. For Shirdi, Shajapur to Shirdi on June 20, Sagar to Mathura-Vrindavan on June 22 and Khargone to Gangasagar on June 23.
Similarly, Ujjain to Shirdi on June 23, Vidisha to Prayagraj on July 2, Alirajpur to Shirdi on July 3, Rajgarh to Mathura-Vrindavan on July 4, Sehore to Mathura-Vrindavan on July 6. Dhar to Shirdi on July 7, Raisen to Prayagraj on July 16 and Jhabua to Shirdi on July 19.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)