Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday rolled out a free pilgrimage plan through trains from various locations of the state to different religious places across the country.
The first train of pilgrims-Amritsar to Nanded-would be flagged off on January 1 from Amritsar railway station for the pilgrims belonging to Attari and Majitha constituencies, while the second train for pilgrims of Talwandi Sabo and Maur constituencies would be flagged off from Maur railway station on January 4, a government spokesperson said.
For Anandpur Sahib and Rupnagar constituencies, the train would start from Anandpur Sahib on January 8, whereas pilgrims hailing from Jandiala and Khadoor Sahib constituencies would board the train from Jandiala on January 11.
Another train for Samana and Nabha constituencies would leave from Patiala on January 15 and the train for Dera Baba Nanak and Fatehgarh Churrian people would start from Batala on January 18.
The train for Muktsar and Jalalabad constituencies would leave from Muktsar on January 22, while the train for Kartarpur would leave from Beas on January 25. For Bholath constituency the train would leave from Dhilwan station on January 25.
Sukhbir said the train for the pilgrims who wished to go to Varanasi would leave Bathinda station on January 18, while for Doaba region the train would start from Jalandhar on January 20. For pilgrims from Malerkotla intending to go to Ajmer Sharif, the train would leave Malerkotla station on January 27.
The Cabinet had approved the ‘Mukhya Mantri Tirath Yatra Scheme‘ for providing free pilgrimage services to sacred cities of Sri Nanded Sahib, Varanasi, Katra (Mata Vaishno Devi) and Ajmer Sharif last month.
Under the ambitious scheme, 1,050 people from each assembly constituency would be offered free travel to these pilgrimages and pilgrims would be served food during the journey without any charge.
The beneficiaries for the scheme would be identified by the respective Deputy Commissioners in the state.