Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to take senior citizens on pilgrimage by air. The entire expenditure will be borne under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth-Darshan Yojana.
An Indigo flight carrying a batch of 32 elderly pilgrims took off for Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj at 9.45 am from Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was at Bhopal's Raja Bhoj Airport to see off the pilgrims. Chouhan announced that from now onwards, senior citizens will be taken on pilgrimage by air.
This time, one person from the family was entitled for the trip but from next trip onwards, two persons would be allowed. This means that grandma will be able to accompany grandpa for pilgrimage by air, he added. The first batch of air pilgrimage left for Prayagraj today. The group included 24 men and 8 woman senior citizens.
The elderly citizens will be escorted by a government official in the aircraft. This apart, the tour manager of IRCTC will also accompany them. The chief minister has planned an effective action plan for air pilgrimage from May to July.
In this sequence, pilgrims from Agar-Malwa district will leave for Shirdi from Indore airport on May 23 followed by pilgrims from Betul district who will leave for Mathura-Vrindavan via Bhopal airport on May 25. The next day, pilgrims of Dewas will leave from Indore airport for Shirdi and on June 6, pilgrims of Khandwa will depart from Indore airport to Gangasagar via Kolkata.
Next, on June 4, pilgrims of Harda will leave for Prayagraj from Bhopal airport and on June 6 pilgrims of Mandsaur will depart for Shirdi from Indore airport. On June 8, the pilgrims of Narmadapuram will leave from Bhopal airport for Mathura-Vrindavan via Agra airport and on June 9, the pilgrims of Neemuch will be taken to Shirdi from Indore airport.
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On June 15, the pilgrims of Barwani will leave from Indore airport to Gangasagar via Kolkata and on June 16, pilgrims from Indore will leave from Indore airport to Gangasagar via Kolkata. On June 18, pilgrims of Damoh will leave for Prayagraj from Bhopal airport and on June 19, pilgrims of Burhanpur will leave from Indore airport for Gangasagar via Kolkata.
Pilgrims of Ratlam will go to Shirdi from Indore airport on June 19. Shajapur pilgrims will go to Shirdi from Indore airport on June 20 and pilgrims of Sagar will leave from Bhopal airport to Mathura-Vrindavan via Agra airport. On June 23, Khargone pilgrims will leave for Gangasagar via Kolkata from Indore airport while pilgrims from Ujjain will leave for Shirdi from Indore airport on the same day.
On July 2, pilgrims from Vidisha will leave for Prayagraj from Bhopal airport and on July 3 pilgrims from Alirajpur will leave for Shirdi from Indore airport. On July 6, pilgrims of Sehore will leave from Bhopal Airport for Mathura-Vrindavan via Agra Airport while those of Dhar will leave from Indore Airport for Shirdi on the same day. Pilgrims of Raisen will go to Prayagraj from Bhopal airport on July 16 and those of Jhabua will travel to Shirdi from Indore airport on July 19.
The Mukhya Mantri Teerth-Darshan Yojana for the poor senior citizens of the state was introduced by the Madhya Pradesh government in 2012. Till now, 7,82,000 elderly people have undertaken pilgrimage in 782 special trains under the scheme.
