Tourism minister Amar Kumar Bauri visited Tatanagar station on Wednesday to take stock of the arrangements for Mukhyamantri Tirth Darshan Yojana under which a special pilgrimage train would be flagged off for 1,000 senior citizens of the BPL category.
Bauri was accompanied by East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar, city SP Prashant Anand and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) group general manager (east zone), Debashish Chandra.
Chief minister Raghubar Das on Friday will flag off the special train to Puri for pilgrims of Kolhan.
"The chief minister will flag off the train at 9.05pm from platform 1. We will have around 500 senior citizens from East Singhbhum, 300 from West Singhbhum and rest 200 from Seraikela-Kharsawan. All the devotees will be provided with refreshment and snacks on their arrival and meals (dinner) on train free of cost," Bauri said.
Bauri added that arrangements had been made for bringing the pilgrims from far flung blocks of the all the three district to Tatanagar in buses by 7.30pm-8pm.
"All pilgrims will be made comfortable under a shamiyana (tent) erected near the parking lot of Tatanagar. They will be given identity cards issued by the Jharkhand government. Chief minister will address the pilgrims before they board the 15-coach special train,"?said Bauri.
A medical team and two nodal officers from respective districts will also accompany the pilgrims
The train will reach Puri at 12.15pm on November 19 via Chakradharpur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Angul and Khurdah Road stations.
The state government had signed an MoU with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation in September to kick-start the unique project, which allows the elderly to visit religious sites at state expenses.
