Second phase pilgrimage programme for senior citizens flagged off

Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday flagged off the second phase of the pilgrimage programme for senior citizens here.

A special train carrying around 1000 senior citizens of ten central Odisha left for Allahabad and Baranasi in a tour as part of the “Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana” sponsored by the government.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said, “The second phase of “Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana” was flagged off today for Allahabad and Baranasi. 1000 people of 10 districts are included in the second phase of the programmae. I wish them a happy journey.”

Among others, Culture and Tourism minister Ashok Panda, MP Prassana Patsani, MLA Bijay Mohanty and Priyadarshi Mishra were present on the ocassion

Notably, the state owned Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the pilgrimage programme for senior citizens.

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Besides providing free food and lodging, the government is also engaging nodal officers, doctors and nurses to look after the elderly people during their tour.

On July 25, the chief minister had launched the pilgrimage programme for senior citizens in Berhampur. A special train carrying around 977 senior citizens of ten southern Odisha districts left for Rameswaram and Madurai in a nine-day tour in the first phase of the programme.