Uttar Pradesh plans free pilgrimage for elderly Hindus

In an apparent bid to get rid of its “pro-Muslim” tag and counter accusations from saffron groups of being “discriminatied against” Hindus, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to provide free pilgrimage to the senior citizens.

According to government sources, Hindu senior citizens would be taken to Haridwar and Rishikesh, the famous religious spots of the community  in Uttarakhand thronged by millions from across the world. 

Sources said the first batch of 1,000 pilgrims would leave for the two places in March. “The pilgrims will leave by a special train booked through the IRCTC,” said a government official on Saturday.

The selection of the pilgrims would start soon, the official said, adding that the selection would be done on a random basis from among the applications but the criteria would be the age of the pilgrims.

The pilgrims would be taken in and around Haridwar and Rishikesh in luxury buses and a guide would also be provided to them to introduce them to the places they visit. Boarding and lodging would be included in the pilgrimage package, the official said.

The government has already released a fund of Rs 65 lakh to meet the expenditure to be incurred on the pilgrimage.

Sources in the ruling Samajwadi Party said the decision of the government would effectively counter the allegations often leveled by the saffron outfits and the BJP that the state government cared only for the minorities and discriminated against the majority community.

The BJP leaders have been raking up the issue of providing scholarships to girl students from muslim community and cornering the Akhilesh Yadav regime for not extending the same to the girls from the Hindu community.