Pilgrimage project begins

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Oct 19:  A total of 80 pilgrims of the State on Thursday left for visiting some important religious places outside the State as a part of Assam government’s Punyadham Yatra scheme.

Under the Punyadham Yatra the pilgrims won’t have to pay for their travel and food to sacred places in the country.

The pilgrims can opt for four series of sacred places – Jaganth Puri, Mathura-Brindavan, Ma Vaishdevi Mandir and Ajmer Sharif Dargah.

The pilgrims left for the tour from Guwahati railway station at Paltan Bazar here at 6.30 pm. State Tourism Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma flagged off the tour.

Speaking to reporters, Sarma said that the Tourism department received as many as 18,000 applications for availing benefit under the schemes.

“Till March, we will try to accommodate pilgrims as many as possible depending upon the availability of train tickets under this scheme,” he said.

 This is the first time in Assam that the State government has launched such a scheme to eble poor pilgrims to visit their dream deity or shrine in the country. The scheme is run by the State Tourism Department and ATDC on behalf of the State Government.

The Punyadham scheme was announced during the announcement of the state budget for 2017-18.