Free pilgrimage to Ayodhya for Delhi senior citizens

NEW DELHI: Soon, senior citizens will be able to visit Ayodhya and offer prayers at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir on a pilgrimage funded by Delhi government. This was announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who offered prayers at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi and Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya on Tuesday.
The chief minister has called a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday where this proposal would be put and necessary approval given.
Aam Aadmi Party has lately increased its political activities in Uttar Pradesh where assembly elections are likely to be held early next year. Kejriwal announced that if AAP won the polls, its government would provide a fully funded pilgrimage to Ayodhya for Delhiites.
In mid-2019, the AAP government had launched Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana and a batch of 1,000 senior citizens was taken on a government-funded pilgrimage to Delhi, Amritsar, Wagah border and Anandpur Sahib. The scheme targets to take senior citizens, provided they are residents of Delhi, to various popular pilgrimage destinations in north India. There is no income criteria attached to it.
The 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 five popular routes once a year. The routes include Delhi-Mathura-Vrindavan-Agra-Fatehpur Sikri, Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Neelkanth, Delhi-Ajmer-Pushkar, Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah border-Anandpur Sahib and Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu.
Ayodhya would be added to the scheme soon. While the scheme was active, due to imposition of the model code of conduct for the 2020 Delhi assembly elections and later due to the pandemic, no pilgrimage was undertaken.
“I feel blessed that I could visit the sacred Shri Ram Janmbhoomi and pray to Ram Lalla. I also visited Maa Saryu and Lord Hanuman to seek their blessings. I pray to Lord Shri Ram for my country, for the health and happiness of people, for us to be free from the hard times Covid-19 has put us through, and for peace, prosperity and progress. I hope every Indian gets an opportunity to visit and seek the blessings of Ram Lalla like I have had the privilege today in Ayodhya. I am a mere common man, but God has showered me with his choicest blessings. I wish to utilise the strength and resources I have received to enable people to visit this holy land,” said Kejriwal.
The CM added, “Delhi government makes arrangements for AC trains, AC hotels and the best possible facilities for the pilgrimage scheme. Once our government is formed in UP, we will make the same facility available to people here.” Kejriwal had announced to provide free pilgrimage to Ayodhya in March.