Technology News
AAP govt clears free pilgrimage scheme for elderly | Chandigarh News
[ad_1]
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab Monday paved way for a free pilgrimage scheme for the elderly people, more than six years after the previous Congress government had scrapped a similar scheme launched by the Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP dispensation in the state.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann gave its approval to the Mukh Mantri Tirth Yatra scheme, which is likely to cost the fund-starved state Rs 40 crore annually.
Addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said under scheme, senior citizens could visit various religious places including Hazur Sahib in Nanded (Maharashtra), Mata Chintpurni temple, Mata Jwalaji temple, Naina Devi temple (all in Himachal Pradesh) through buses and trains free of charge. The scheme also allows the elderly to visit Patna Sahib in Bihar, Ram Mandir in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Ajmer Sharif and Khatu Shyam in Rajasthan, Anandpur Sahib in Punjab and Mata Vaishno Devi Temple in Jammu.
This scheme will be rolled out on ‘Parkash Purb’ of Guru Nanak Dev on November 27, the chief minister said in a post on X.
A sum of Rs 40 crore has been earmarked for the scheme, Cheema said, adding that a sub-committee has also been formed for the implementation of the scheme. He said the sub-committee would take a call on the age of people who could avail of this scheme.
A similar scheme is being run in AAP-led Delhi where the ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’ was launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on July 12, 2019.
Most Read
Under this scheme, the Delhi government has facilitated pilgrimage for more than 75,000 elderly people of the national capital, Kejriwal claimed on Sunday.
Earlier, then Finance Minister Manpreet Badal in 2017 had scrapped the pilgrimage scheme stating that the previous SAD-BJP government had splurged Rs 140 crore in one year on the scheme. Manpreet had informed the Vidhan Sabha that the previous government had failed to pay an outstanding amount of Rs 6 crore to the Pepsu Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) and Rs 7 crore to the Punjab Roadways for the use of the buses for these tours. He had stated that highest number of 6,481 buses were used for visits to Golden temple, 1,191 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.
The freebies have already been bleeding the exchequer. Free travel for women is already costing it Rs 550 crore. The government has not been able to take the call to withdraw the scheme.
[ad_2]