Raipur
With less than a fortnight to go for the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram’s idol in Ayodhya, the Vishnu Deo Sai government in Chhattisgarh has approved its Ram Lala Darshan (Ayodhya Dham) Yojana. Under the scheme, 20,000 eligible residents of the State would be taken to the holy city for pilgrimage every year.
The launch of the scheme was one of the promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the elections late last year, and the decision paving the way for its launch was taken at a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday evening.
“The wish of the people of Chhattisgarh to see Ram Lala will be fulfilled, now the Chhattisgarh government will facilitate the darshan of Ayodhya Dham,” the Chief Minister’s Office wrote about the new scheme in a long post on X, formerly Twitter, in which he also laid out the details of the implementation of the scheme as well as the eligibility criteria.
A government statement added that the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board will implement the scheme and the budget for it will be provided by the Tourism Department.
It added that those between the age of 18 and 75 years and found fit in the health examination by District Medical Board will be considered eligible for the trip under this scheme. In the first phase, however, this facility will be made available for the people of age above 55 years.
From different points in Chhattisgarh, batches of pilgrims will be taken to the main destination of Ayodhya Dham in Uttar Pradesh in trains. The trip will also include a visit to Varanasi where they will go to Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor and witness the Ganga Aarti. The distance to be covered under this trip to Ayodhya will be approximately 900 kilometres, for which an MoU will be signed between Chhattisgarh Tourism Board and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.
“Arrangements for commute of the beneficiaries from their residence to the designated railway station and back will be made by the concerned District Collector. Budget will be allocated for aforementioned arrangements,” the statement read.
