R'than mulls nirvana plan, to pay for immersing ashes

Govt to meet cost of travelling to Ganga for that final rite

Jaipur, P J Joychen, June 18, 2013, DHNS:,

Jun 19 2013, 00:32 ist
updated: Jun 19 2013, 00:32 ist

Senior citizens of the state can breathe easy. The Ashok Gehlot government wants to ensure that no one misses out on a chance to attain nirvana owing to shortage of money.

It has mooted a proposal to meet the cost of immersion of ashes in the holy waters of river Ganga to help them attain nirvana – liberating from the cycle of life and death – as the Hindus believe.

The government will step in for whose families which are not in a position to perform the ritual due to financial constraints.

Final shape

The idea was floated at a meeting of the public trusts board and was received well by the members, said Krishna Murari Gangawat, chairman of the board.
The board is working on the scheme.

“The final shape to the proposal will be given at the board’s upcoming meeting. It has been sent to the state government for working out modalities and financial implications,” said Gangawat, chairman of the board, which works under the state’s Devasthan department.

The department, by a notification on November 12, 2012, had constituted the board under the Rajasthan Public Trust Act, 1959.

It has 17 members from four leading religious groups including Hindu, Christian, Sikh and Jain. It consists of 11 Hindus, 1 Sikh and Christian each and 4 Jain representatives.

Reimburse

According to the proposal the state government may either reimburse the expenses incurred by the family or they would be given free train or bus travel.
The modalities are being worked out, sources said.

Recently, the state government announced a scheme to provide senior citizens with free pilgrimage to selected centres.

Towards this, the Devasthan department signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).

Pilgrimage centres

The state government has promised to bear all expenses on going to the select 11 pilgrimage centres.

The centres are: Jagannathpuri (Odisha), Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu), Vaishno Devi (Jammu & Kashmir), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Gaya-Kashi (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh),
Amritsar (Punjab), Sammed Shikhar (Jharkhand), Goa
(Maharashtra), Dwarikapuri (Gujarat), Bihar Sharif
(Bihar), and Shirdi (Maharashtra).

Special trains

The railways will run special trains from the divisional headquarters.
The first phase of the scheme is opened to 25,000 applicants and the last date to submit the form for the scheme is July 1.
DH News Service