Assam Government to conduct annual tour for 3,000 pilgrims

GUWAHATI: The BJP government in Assam will conduct a pilgrimage tour for 3,000 people every year whose annual income is below Rs 2.5 lakh. The ‘Punnyadham Yatra’, as it is christened, is scheduled to start in October 2 this year and will continue till February 28, 2018.

Senior citizens will be taken to
Jagannath Temple in Odisha, Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, Ajmer Sarif Dargah in Rajasthan and Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir as part of this package.

Assam tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “Selected 3,000 pilgrims will travel in groups of 100 and each group will select one destination. Two persons from a family will be eligible for consideration under the scheme. The government will provide accommodation to pilgrims and free railway transportation in AC threetier.”

“Pilgrims will be provided Rs 150 per day. The group can take three guides with them who will be paid Rs 500 each per day. The guides must be educated youth of the locality from which the group comes from,” he said.