Kejriwal, Sisodia to join senior citizens for pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia will join a group of senior citizens for a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi on July 20, under the 'Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana'.

Kejriwal will flag off the first trip of Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah Border-Anandpur Sahib corridor on July 12 for senior citizens above 60 years.

The fully paid pilgrimage will include travel, stay, and food for senior citizens.

The second tour on the Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu corridor will be from July 20 to 24, with the two leaders joining the pilgrims.

While interacting with the senior citizens on the scheme, Kejriwal said his government has done lot of work in last five years, "but this is the most sacred work we have done so far."

He told the beneficiaries that as per schedule, "on July 20, you will all be in Jammu for Vaishno Devi Darshan, I'm very happy to say that Sisodia and I will also join you there to take blessings from Vaishno Devi."

The beneficiaries are selected on a first-come-first-served basis and 77,000 people -- 1,100 from each of the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi -- will be sent on pilgrimage every year.

The other three routes covered under the scheme are Delhi-Mathura-Vrindavan-Agra-Fatehpur Sikri-Delhi, Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Neelkanth-Delhi, and Delhi-Ajmer-Pushkar-Delhi.

Delhi residents who are over 60 years and have a certificate from their local MLA saying that they live in the particular constituency can apply for the scheme.

For those above 70 years, the government will bear the expense of an attendant who is over 21 years. IANS