The pilgrimage scheme for the elderly by the Delhi government, which was halted in the first week of January due to rising COVID-19 cases, is resuming with a train carrying pilgrims to Dwarkadhish in the state of Gujarat. On Monday, the train for Dwarkadhish will be flagged off from Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station at 7 PM, carrying 1000 elderly pilgrims. Kamal Bansal, chairman of the Delhi government’s Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti, was quoted in a PTI report saying another train for Rameshwaram will depart on February 18. In January, the Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna was halted amid rise in Covid cases. As a result of the disruption, a train of pilgrims that was scheduled to Basilica of Our Lady of Health in Vailankanni, Tamil Nadu was cancelled on January 7.
Bansal said that trains are likely to be announced for other pilgrimage places as the Indian Railways is likely to inform us about the trains’ availability of trains. According to him, maximum demand from the senior citizens was for Dwarkadhish and Rameshwaram. Nearly 15,000 applications for Rameshwaram as well as 7000 for Dwarkadhish were pending. Due to popular demand from the elderly, they are ready to arrange as many trips as possible but it depends upon the train availability, Bansal said.
As many as 11 train trips for different pilgrim sites were planned under the scheme for free pilgrimages to the elderly from Delhi in January, that could not materialise due to the third Covid wave, he said. The trains of pilgrims including one for the Kartarpur Sahib route and Amritsar and Ayodhya in the month of January got cancelled as well, he said. Now, the Tirth Yatra Vikas Samiti will have to again work out schedules for trains as there are already thousands of applications that are pending due to cancelled train trips, Bansal further stated.
Under the scheme which is fully sponsored by the Delhi government, people of 60 years and above are sent on pilgrimage to 15 routes on trips. The government pays for travel, accommodation as well as other expenses of each pilgrim who can also take along an attendant with them. The scheme halted last year due to the second Covid wave was resumed with a train of pilgrims leaving for Ayodhya on 3 December 2020. Pilgrims also went to Dwarka and Rameshwaram before the scheme was halted due to the pandemic. The Delhi government sanctioned an amount of Rs 81.45 crore under the scheme, of which Rs 66.92 crore was spent in the year 2020-21. So far, approximately 38,000 senior citizens have benefitted from the scheme, officials said.