The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to several significant proposals, including free pilgrimage scheme for thousands of senior citizens residing in the Capital, in addition to a proposal to strengthen public transport infrastructure in rural areas.
The Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, approved the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ proposed by the Revenue Department to enable 1,100 senior citizens from each Assembly constituency per year to undertake free pilgrimage, the expenses for which will be borne by the government.
“It is proposed that a total of 77,000 pilgrims will be able to avail this facility every year and, on an average, it is estimated that the scheme will incur a cost of ₹7,000 per pilgrim for a pilgrimage which will be for a duration of three days and two nights,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
The scheme, he said, would be for pilgrimages on routes including Delhi-Mathura-Vrindavan-Agra-Fatehpur Sikri-Delhi; Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Neelkanth -Delhi; Delhi-Ajmer-Pushkar-Delhi; Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah Border-Anandpur Sahib-Delhi and Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu-Delhi.
According to the AAP government, any resident of Delhi above 60 years of age will be eligible for the scheme and those selected, will be allowed to be accompanied by an attendant above 18 years, whose expenditure will also be borne by the government.
Income criteria
The applicant should not have an income of above ₹3 lakh per annum and he or she should not be an employee of the Central, State or local government or autonomous bodies. Those selected for pilgrimage will be covered with an insurance of ₹2 lakh each.
Travel will be aboard AC buses through coach tours of Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC).
Boarding, lodging and food along with pilgrimage will be paid for by the government, the statement stated. Application forms will be available online and can be filed on the Net either through office of divisional commissioner or office of respective MLA or office of Tirth Yatra Committee.
The selection of pilgrims will be done through draw of lots and the respective area MLAs will have to certify the residents as belonging to Delhi, the statement said.
Students and sports
In addition, according to Mr. Sisodia, the Cabinet also approved the Directorate of Education’s proposal to support school students for excellence in sports in under-14 and under-17 categories.
“The Delhi government will provide financial assistance to eligible students up to ₹2 lakh per year in under-14 category and ₹3 lakh in under-17 category. This is our attempt at assisting all budding sports talent in the city,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
Those preparing to compete in national and international sporting events will be eligible to avail this scheme. Apart from this, the government will provide medical and accident insurance of ₹5 lakh each to eligible students.
According to the department, at least 600 students in Delhi are likely to be eligible for this scheme and the number could be higher.
In addition, Mr. Sisodia said, the Cabinet had also decided to allow the Delhi government to open its schools doors for art, culture and dance training with academies and NGOs running such courses and programmes eligible to apply under this scheme.
The Delhi government and Sahitya Kala Parishad will select these academies under a prescribed eligibility criteria.
After school hours, Delhi government will allow these training programmes in its government schools. The academies will have to ensure that in their training classes, half of the total students will have to be from the respective school and they will have to be trained free of cost.
These academies will be allowed to charge fees from others.
“This scheme will provide a unique opportunity to every citizen willing to share their talent and teach the children of the city any activity under the arts and culture categories,” he added.
