Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana
This scheme aims to enable 77,000 citizens of Delhi (1,100 from each of the 70 assembly constituencies) who are above 60 years of age to go on a pilgrimage on any of the popular routes once a year.
Delhi Government facilitates these tours through the IRCTC. The travellers are offered AC trains and AC hotel rooms. The entire expense to and fro is borne by the Delhi Government along with an insurance cover of ₹1 lakh.
On 10th Nov 2021, at the Times Now Summit, Arvind Kejriwal explained that the AAP govt tries to cater to all the needs of the people including their spiritual needs. The Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana is designed toward this end.
On 13th Feb 2022, the train for Dwarkadhish carrying 1000 elderly pilgrims was flagged off from the Safdarjung railway station in Delhi. The pilgrimage scheme got on track again as the Covid-19 third wave had subsided in the country.
As of 23 Mar 2022 more than 50000 citizens have completed their pilgrimage tours.
Itineraries
- As of 30th July 2019, the Delhi AAP govt has added seven new destinations to pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens:
- Delhi-Rameswaram-Madurai-Delhi (8 days)
- Delhi-Tirupati-Delhi (7 days)
- Delhi-Dwarkadhish-Nageshwar-Delhi (6 days)
- Delhi-Puri-Konark-Bhubaneswar-Delhi (7 days)
- Delhi-Shirdi-Shani Shinglapur-Delhi (5 days)
- Delhi-Ujjain-Onkareshwar-Delhi (6 days)
- Delhi-Bodh Gaya-Sarnath-Delhi (duration yet to be decided).
- As of 23 Oct 2021, in the existing Ajmer-Pushkar tour, the Haldighati destination was slated to be added. The other functional routes are
- Delhi-Mathura-Vrindavan-Agra-Fatehpur Sikri
- Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Neelkanth,
- Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah Border-Anandpur Sahib and
- Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu
- From 27th Oct 2021, Ayodhya was also included in the Free Pilgrimage Scheme For Senior Citizens.
- On 10th Dec 2021, the second train to Ayodhya left Delhi.
- In Nov 2021, Velankanni was added to the list of pilgrimage centres.
The Delhi Government is also exploring the possibility of taking senior citizens on a pilgrimage trip to Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
Number of applications received for various itineraries and the number of successful applications for each of them
(Source: The Hindu – https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/second-train-to-ayodhya-leaves-tomorrow/article37906072.ece )
Feedback from beneficiaries of Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana
December 2, 2021:
Dilli Ki Yogshala
- On 13th Dec 2021, Arvind Kejriwal announced the “Dilli Ki Yogshala” scheme scheduled to start in Jan 2022
- On 23rd Dec 2021, Delhi govt makes Yoga teachers available with a missed call under ‘Dilli ki Yogshala’ scheme.
