Kejriwal govt to sponsor senior citizens ' trip to Kartapur

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that his government would sponsor Delhi's senior citizens' trip to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib under the Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana.

"The Delhi-Amritsar-Wagah border-Sri Anandpur Sahib route will be extended to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib. The Cabinet has given its in-principle approval to this extension today. Delhi's senior citizens will now be able to visit the sacred site free of cost under the scheme," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a press conference here.

Kejriwal said that the Delhi government will bear any fee that needs to be paid to the Indian Government or Pakistan Government in foreign or Indian currency during the yatra.

Stressing that there are many uncertainties about the fees that will be charged from pilgrims, he said: "Once those details are finalised, we will also work out the program under our scheme. As on other routes, senior citizens will be entitled to take one younger attendant with them."

"The Revenue department has been directed to work out the details based on the final arrangement between the Indian and Pakistani governments," he said.

He also announced the suspension of Odd-Even scheme on November 11 and 12 in view of the 550th Prakash Parv celebrations.

"The 550th Prakash Parv of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji is being celebrated through a grand Nagar Kirtan on November 11 and the Guru Parv on November 12. Lakhs of people from the Sikh community are expected to join the celebrations. Several Sikh organisations came to me with a request to suspend Odd-Even for these two days and we have decided to do that," Kejriwal said.

A delegation of Sikh leaders led by MLA Jarnail Singh from Tilak Nagar had met Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot on Thursday in this regard.

The 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on a very large scale all over the world.