NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said his government will send senior citizens living in old age homes in the capital on pilgrimage free of cost. The chief minister said this while inaugurating the capital’s fourth old age home “Baba Sahab Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Senior Citizen Home in East Delhi.
“The Delhi government sends senior citizens on ‘tirth yatra’. The yatra could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. But it has restarted now. We will send all senior citizens from old age homes on tirth yatra,” he said.
Under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana, senior citizens of Delhi can go on pilgrimages at the government’s expense. The pilgrimage covers Dwarka, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Ajmer Sharif, Rameshwaram, Shirdi, among others.
Kejriwal said Delhi has four old age homes now and five more will be ready soon. Altogether, these nine facilities will be able to accommodate 1,000 senior citizens. The old age homes at Bindapur, Wazirpur and Tahirpur can accommodate 50, 38, and 300 people, respectively. Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said the fifth facility for senior citizens is coming up in Paschim Vihar and will be ready in three months.
CM scheme was halted due to Covid
New Delhi: The Delhi government had launched Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana three years ago, though it was halted for the past two years due to Covid. Under the programme, senior citizens can go on pilgrimages at the government’s expense. The pilgrimage covers Dwarka, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya, Ajmer Sharif, Shirdi and Rameshwaram, among others.