UP govt set to launch scheme to fund labourers' pilgrimage

Under it, an amount of  Rs 12,000 would be transferred to the account of each of the selected number of labourers employed across the state.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Photo | PTI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Photo | PTI)

LUCKNOW: The Yogi government is all set to launch Swami Vivekananda Etihasik Paryatan Yatra Yojana, a scheme under which money will be transferred to the accounts of those labourers who would like to go on pilgrimage.

The scheme will be launched on January 24, the foundation day of Uttar Pradesh. Under it, an amount of  Rs 12,000 would be transferred to the account of each of the selected number of labourers employed across around 6.5 lakh commercial setups and 20,500 factories and workshops in the state to undertake the journey to religious places.

As per the labour department officials, the process would begin with the state’s labour welfare board inviting applications from nearly 1.5 cr labourers, registered with the board, to avail the benefit.

The sources claimed that the board had identified religious cities of Ayodhya, Mathura, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhnath temple, Shakumbhari Devi, Vindhyavasini Devi and Hastinapur (in Meerut).

The scheme was conceptualised on November 10 -- the birth anniversary of Dattopant Thengadi, the RSS ideologue, who founded the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), a trade union.

The sources claimed that the scheme named after Swami Vivekananda would be the first-of-its-kind to provide the labourers some time off their tough life so that they can also get acquainted with the rich cultural and religious heritage of this land. The labour welfare board has written to lawmakers across the
state seeking their help in popularising this scheme among labourers.

The UP government this year will start two more schemes -- one named after former India cricketer Chetan Chauhan to encourage sporting activities among labourers and the other named after famous litterateur Mahadevi Verma to help poor students purchase books.

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