Rajasthan govt to organise pilgrimages for 36,000 senior citizens, says Devasthan minister

The Rajasthan government will organise pilgrimages for 36,000 senior citizens, Devasthan Minister Joraram Kumawat told the assembly.

He was responding to a debate on the grant demand of the Devasthan department in the assembly late on Wednesday.

After the discussion, the House passed a grant demand of Rs 85.22 crore by voice vote.

The minister said 2,999 senior citizens had benefited from the operation of four trains for the darshan of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

''Our government will provide travel facility to 36,000 senior citizens under the scheme in 2024-25, in which 15,000 senior citizens will be taken to Ayodhya by rail and 15,000 senior citizens will be taken to pilgrimage sites, including Rameshwaram, Jagannath temple in Puri, Vaishno Devi-Amritsar, Gangasagar, Tirupati, Kamakhya, Mathura-Vrindavan and Mathura-Ayodhya, and 6,000 senior citizens will be taken to Pashupatinath, Kathmandu (Nepal), by air,'' he said. The state government will spend Rs 100 crore to give the Khatushyamji temple a grand facelift. It will also take up development of 23 temples and three tribal faith centres.

Kumawat said lakhs of tourists from around the country and abroad visit the temples of the Devsthan department daily, leading to a rise in the state's revenue.

He added that the Devsthan department manages 593 temples -- 390 of which are direct charge and 203 self-reliant.

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