Berhampur/Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday flagged off a state government sponsored special pilgrimage train for senior citizens on Thursday.
The train - Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana - chugged out of Berhampur railway station after Naveen flagged it off through video-conferencing in Bhuban-eswar. Three ministers of Naveen's cabinet colleagues - Ashok Panda, Surya Narayan Patro and Usha Devi - were present at the Berhampur railway station.
Naveen chanted "Jai Jagannath" as he flagged off the train. He wished the pilgrims a safe and comfortable journey. The senior citizens, who interacted with the chief minister through video-conferencing, thanked him for their dream trip.
A thousand senior citizens from 10 southern districts boarded the train on a pilgrimage from Berhampur to Tirupati and Vellore. They would return on January 9, said tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda.
"Our children could not take us on pilgrimage. But now we are going to Tirupati and Vellore with assistance from the state government," a pilgrim said. His co-passenger said his wish of 35 years to visit Tirupati would be fulfilled.
Senior citizens pilgrimage scheme was launched in July 2016. In the last two years, a few batches of senior citizens had been on pilgrimage to places such as Allahabad, Varanasi, Hardwar, Pushkar and Ajmer.
Among others, BJD MLAs of Berhampur, Gopalpur, Polsara, Chatrapur and Sanakhemundi, director tourism Nitin Bhanudas Jawale and commissioner of Berhampur Municipal Corporation Nikhil Pavan Kalyan were present at Berhampur railway station.
Revenue minister Maheswar Mohanty, information and public relations minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, women and child development minister Prafulla Samal, sports minister Chandrasarathi Behera, chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and tourim secretary Mona Sharma were present at the event at the state secretariat.
This was the second pilgramage train to leave Berhampur. The earlier one had taken pilgrims to Rameswaram and Madurai.
Jawale said the next pilgrimage train would start its journey from Sambalpur. The date and the destination would be decided later, he said.
