Chhattisgarh and Indian Railways offers free Pilgrimage to Senior Citizens

Chhattisgarh and Indian Railways offers free Pilgrimage to Senior Citizens

Written by IANS on 18 Nov, 2012 at 06:25 AM IST | Categorized As
Nation | With 0 Comments

Chhattisgarh government and Indian Railways has signed an agreement
free-of-cost pilgrimage schemes for the state's senior citizens.
The accord for the Chief Minister Pilgrimage Scheme was signed Friday
between officials of the state's social welfare department and Indian
Railways at the Mantralaya in Naya Raipur after the cabinet, led by
Chief Minister Raman Singh, reviewed the scheme.

The scheme would enable physically fit senior citizens above the age
of 60 years to travel once in a group at government expense to one or
two of the chosen pilgrimages centres out of 16 identified by the
state government outside Chhattisgarh.

Eighty per cent of the total number of senior citizens who would be
eligible for the scheme should be beneficiaries of Below Poverty Line
(BPL), Antodaya or the Chief Minister's Food Assistance Programme.

The remaining 20 per cent of the beneficiaries of the scheme would be
those who are Above Poverty Line but not entitled to pay income tax.

As per the scheme, 75 per cent of the senior citizens would be chosen
from rural areas and 25 per cent from urban areas. The expense on each
pilgrim is estimated to be Rs.18,000 per year. The total annual
expense on the scheme would be Rs.36 crore.
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Dr P Vyasamoorthy
30 Gruhalakshmi Colony Secunderabad 500015 Ph 040-27846631 / 9490804278