Chandigarh: Launching the Punjab government's free 'Mukh Mantri Tirath Yatra' scheme, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart on Monday flagged off the first pilgrimage train from Dhuri, Punjab to Sri Hazur Sahib Gurdwara, Nanded, Maharashtra.
Addressing a gathering after launching the scheme on the occasion of Gurpurb of Guru Nanak Dev, Mann said that this scheme had been launched to facilitate the pilgrims to visit the various holy places across the country and state.
Thousands of passengers to avail this facility
He said this time there were 300 pilgrims from Amritsar, 220 from Jalandhar and more than 500 from Dhuri, while more than 50,000 pilgrims would be availing this facility over three months, 13,000 of them would travel by trains - 13 trains carrying 1,000 passengers each leaving every eight days. The remaining pilgrims would be travelling by buses, with 10 buses leaving every day, carrying 43 people each. These trains and buses would have a team of doctors as well as officials so as to ensure all facilities and other requirements.
Devotees to get host of benefits from this scheme
Elaborating further, he said the scheme which replicated the scheme started by the Kejriwal government earlier, would have free food in the AC trains and buses as well as AC accommodations at the destination. The pilgrims would be able to go to Sri Hazur Sahib and Sri Patna Sahib, Varanasi, Mathura, Ajmer Sharif, Salasar Dham, Khatu Shyam ji and several other places.
Kejriwal in his address, congratulated the people on the auspicious occasion of the parkash purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji and said that their government was walking on the footsteps of the great Gurus to serve the people of Delhi and Punjab. He said that in Delhi till now more than 80,000 people had taken benefit of this scheme.
