Ahead of the assembly elections in Delhi, Congress on Saturday vowed to provide free pilgrimage to Buddhist sites if the party is voted to power in the national capital.
Photo: ANI
Ahead of the assembly elections in Delhi, Congress on Saturday vowed to provide free pilgrimage to Buddhist sites if the party is voted to power in the national capital.
Addressing a press conference at Rajiv Bhawan, former MP Udit Raj said, “Delhi government organizes pilgrimage for Tirupati, Ayodhya, Vaishno Devi, Balaji for senior citizens at its own expense but there is no pilgrimage scheme for the Buddhist places like Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Lumbini and Deekshaboomi among others”.
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“If our government comes, we will not discriminate and will provide free pilgrimage for them also,” Raj said.
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The ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’ was launched in 2018 and as per this scheme, any resident of the national capital aged 60 or above can avail the benefits after acquiring a certificate from a local MLA, stating that he lives in the legislator’s constituency. One attendant aged 21 or more can accompany each traveler and the government bears the expenses for the attendant too.
He added that they had earlier protested outside the residence of former Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal demanding a honorarium for Buddhist monks and priests at the Guru Ravi Das Mandir and Valmiki Mandir, who belong to the Dalit community, alleging that Kejriwal paid no heed to this demand.
He advocated that the Buddhist monks, priests of Guru Ravidas and Valmiki temples should also get a monthly honorarium of Rs 18 thousand similar to the one promised to priests and Granthis.
“Kejriwal misled Dalits with the Ambedkar Scholarship Scheme announced in 2020. However, due to a lack of funds, Dalit students were not sent abroad. This was merely an old scheme repackaged, with only Rs 25 lakh distributed in scholarships, while Rs five crore was spent on its publicity,” he added.
Udit Raj also criticized Kejriwal for remaining silent on the issue of a caste census, claiming he ignored Rahul Gandhi’s demand for a public statement on the matter. He also reiterated that Kejriwal had promised to appoint a Dalit Deputy Chief Minister in Punjab but failed to deliver.
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