Madhya Pradesh: Work on Ram's 'exile path' unrolled

Even as the Supreme Court has cleared the decks for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has unrolled a Rs 600 crore project to construct a spiritual circuit, covering the mythical path that Lord Rama is believed to have traversed with his wife Sita and brother Laxman during his 14-year exile.

The project, known as ‘Ram Path Gaman’ was first conceptualised and announced by the then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in 2007, ahead of the Assembly elections in 2008. But the BJP government failed to fulfil the promise, providing the Congress an opportunity to make it an election issue in the 2018 election.

The Congress promised to implement the project in its manifesto for the Assembly election held in November last year. But not much work was done so far, despite the allocation of Rs 22 crore for the project in the state budget this year.

The Supreme Court verdict seems to have lent a renewed political urgency to the Congress’s poll promise. as the party vies with the BJP to be seen as devotees of Lord Ram.

The project will be flagged off at Chitrakoot, where Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman spent 11 and half years of their 14-year exile. The state government has already released Rs 7 crore on a proposal of the Satna district collector for the development of pilgrim sites near Chitrakoot.

“Chitrakoot will be developed as the first ‘spiritual city’ of Madhya Pradesh. The roadmap is ready and necessary financial provisions have been made,” said minister for spiritual department P C Sharma.

The minister said the Rs 22 crore sanctioned so far is for the initial development and more money will be earmarked for the project in the supplementary budget, which is likely to be tabled in the winter session of Vidhan Sabha in December.

In Madhya Pradesh, the proposed corridor to be constructed is spread around 350 km, starting from Chitrakoot to Amarkantak.