Lucknow, 05 July: The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken a big decision to fulfill the hopes of religious pilgrimages of Buddhist and Sikh devotees. In an important meeting on Saturday, the Chief Minister said that pilgrimages have been a medium of spiritual upliftment and social harmony in Indian culture. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the state government to provide assistance to the citizens to reach the places related to their faith.
The Chief Minister directed that ‘Buddhist Tirtha Darshan Yojana’ should be started for the special pilgrimages of Buddhist devotees and ‘Panch Takht Yatra Yojana’ for Sikh devotees. Through these schemes, financial assistance will be provided to the devotees. So that they can travel to the major pilgrimage sites of their faith easily.
According to the intention of the Chief Minister, the objective of the ‘Buddhist Tirtha Darshan Yojana’ is to fulfill the desire of Hindu/Buddhist devotees residing in the state to visit Buddhist pilgrimage sites located in different parts of the country. The Chief Minister directed to give priority to Buddhist monks in the selection of beneficiaries of the scheme.
Similarly, the ‘Panch Takht Yatra Yojana’ will be for Sikh devotees. Under this, Sikh devotees residing in the state will be taken on a tour of five holy ‘Takht Sahib’ sites of India.
It is noteworthy that the holy ‘Panch Takht’ sites for the Sikh sect include ‘Sri Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar, Punjab, Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab, Sri Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded, Maharashtra, Sri Harmandir Ji Sahib (Patna Sahib), Bihar.’
In both the proposed schemes, a minimum amount of Rs 10,000 per person will be provided as grant. The Chief Minister directed that the application process for both the schemes should be kept completely online. People from weaker income groups should be given preference with complete transparency in the selection of devotees. Both the schemes will be operated with the cooperation of IRCTC.
The Chief Minister directed the officials that these two schemes should be implemented by giving top priority to the convenience, security and religious faith of the devotees.
He also said that these schemes will further strengthen the inclusive development policy of the state and the spirit of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. It will give a new dimension to the religious tolerance and tourism of the state, and will also give concrete form to the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’