All you need to know about AAP govt’s pilgrimage scheme in Punjab
As many as 10 buses will depart per day for these shrines from all over Punjab.
4 min read
On Guru Nanak Jayanti, a devotee at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. (PTI Photo) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday formally announced the Mukh Mantri Teerath Yatra Scheme in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Dhuri. The Indian Express explains what is the scheme and how will it help the people of the state once the modalities are finalised.
What is the pilgrimage scheme?
As part of the scheme, pilgrims will travel in trains and buses from various stations to reach the pilgrimages of all faiths. The state government will fund their travel, food and stay. First batch of 314 pilgrims took off for Gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Nanded in Maharashtra from Amritsar on Monday. The Pilgrims will travel in train from various identified stations in Punjab for Hazur Sahib Nanded, Patna Sahib, Banaras, Mathura and Vrindavan in same trip and Ajmer Sharif.
What are the modalities?
A total of 13 trains have been planned to be run during this financial year. Each train will accommodate 1000 passengers. Indian Railways will allow one starting station and not more than two stations for on- boarding and de-boarding enroute. The travel will be in three-tier AC coaches.
The IRCTC will provide accommodation for a night stay to the passengers in neat and clean budget Hotels on twin/triple sharing basis at the places of the night halt. They will be served food during travel and at places of stay. Buses will take them from the railway station to the shrine and place of stay. The government will appoint tour escorts, one in each coach, to help with boarding and deboarding.
Which shrines are connected by buses?
The pilgrims will travel by buses from various identified stations to Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib and Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo in Punjab, Mata Chintpurni, Mata Jawalaji and Mata Naina Devi in Himachal Pradesh, Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Khatu Sham ji and Salasar Dham in Rajasthan. As many as 10 buses will depart per day for these shrines from all over Punjab. Each bus will accommodate 43 passengers. The night stay will be organised in AC dharamshalas and yatri niwas.
How will the implementation Committees function?
The District level implementation committee will co-ordinate with IRCTC officers as well as with officers of Transport Department for making all arrangements and timely departure of pilgrims by trains and buses. The concerned Police Commissioner/SSPs will ensure proper security arrangements.
The committees will also make arrangements for the pilgrims to reach boarding stations and allocated bus starting points, arrange medical check up, food and drinking water, identify trauma centres enroute.
How will the selection procedure work?
The selection of pilgrims for buses/trains shall be done by DCs concerned. The Finance Department will release funds to concerned DCs for the scheme.
How the finances will be worked out?
The scheme will cost the state exchequer Rs 40 crore this fiscal. The scheme is not new for Punjab. The SAD-BJP government had also started the scheme in 2016-2017 and was scrapped by subsequent Congress government soon after taking over the reins of the state.
The politics of scheme
The scheme, started by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has been initiated a few months ahead of Lok Sabha elections. The political experts say that the scheme did not help the SAD-BJP government in the state ion 2017. It could not repeat its victory in 2017 and was relegated to number three in the state with Congress merging victorious and AAP being elected as the main Opposition in Vidhan Sabha. The scheme had cost the state exchequer Rs 140 crore for one year. As many as 6481 buses were used for visits to Golden temple, 1191 for Salasar dhaam, 484 to Mata Chintpurni, 337 to Anandpur Sahib, 223 to Patna Sahib , 87 to Hazur Sahib, 19 to Vaishno Devi and 39 to Khuralgarh.
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