People of Punjab A.C. The pilgrimage was taken at places through buses and trains.
The Punjab government has decided to resume ‘Mukhyamantri Pilgrimage Scheme’ for senior citizens of the state. Under this scheme, citizens above 50 years of age will be given free travel to various religious places.
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The ‘Mukhyamantri Pilgrimage Scheme’ was started by the Punjab government on 6 November 2023. Under this, on 27 December 2023, the first batch was dispatched on the occasion of Guru Parv. In the first phase, more than 53,000 devotees were traveled to various pilgrimage sites.
Under the Chief Minister’s Tirtha Yatra Yojana, the last batch from Punjab left on 27 December 2023 on the occasion of Guru Parv. The batch left for Patna Sahib from Amritsar. In February 2024, the scheme was temporarily postponed due to the code of conduct implemented in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The CM kit was also given to the passenger who traveled. In which blankets, sheets, blessings, soaps, glass, comb, etc. were essential items.
Latest Cabinet Decision:
Yesterday, in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on 3 April 2025, the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirtha Yatra Yojana’ was approved to resume. The government has set a budget of Rs 100 crore for this scheme.
Under the scheme, senior citizens will be traveled to various religious places through air -conditioned buses and trains, including food and housing facilities.
64 lakh people will benefit
According to 2011 census, the number of people above 60 years of age in Punjab was 28,70,000. But it has been 14 years since the census. In such a situation, according to the 2011 census, the number of more than 50 years was close to 64 lakhs, which would now have been 60 years. According to this estimate, there are now 64 lakh people in Punjab who will be able to take advantage of this scheme.
Arvind Kejriwal and CM Bhagwant Mann launched the ticket distribution in 2023.
If you want to go, wait till April
If you also want to be a part of this journey, then you will have to wait till the last week of April. Registration will begin in the last week. Registration will be done in both offline and online.
According to the information given by the officials, an online portal is being prepared for this. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema informed that the registration process will start in the last week of April, and trips will be started from May. Interested senior citizens will be able to register online and offline mediums.
Will fulfill the religious wishes of senior citizens
The government aims to benefit more and more senior citizens through this scheme, so that they can travel pilgrimage according to their religious beliefs.
This step of the Punjab government reflects their commitment and respect for senior citizens, so that they can fulfill their religious desires.
There were difficulties in the availability of trains:
In the initial phase of the scheme, the government faced some difficulties in obtaining trains from the railways. Despite the Punjab government’s advanced, tension was also arisen between the central and state government due to lack of availability of trains. However, after receiving positive response from the Railways, the government started preparing for train trips.