To ensure that Lord Shiva devotees do not face hassles in the upcoming Kanwar Yatra, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday announced that the ‘Kanwar’ committees, which arrange for camps and other facilities during the festival, will receive government’s financial assistance through direct benefit transfer method, and there will not be any tendering process for the same.

According to the CM, the decision has been taken to eliminate the alleged corruption in this system that used to have a bad impact on the arrangements made for the devotees earlier.

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She alleged that previously, in the name of extending services to the Yatris, the then government had made this system a place of corruption, and only a few used to get tenders for works across the city.

All this used to delay the work being done on ground, and as per the committees, the tents could not be put up on time, she added.

A meeting of the cabinet was held on Tuesday, after which the CM along with ministers Parvesh Verma, Kapil Mishra, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Sirsa and Ravinder Indraj Singh addressed a press conference, where she announced that the registered committees serving the Lord Shiva devotees, will be provided financial assistance directly through DBT, while all the permissions related to them will be issued mandatorily within 72 hours through the single-window system.

The CM said, “Our goal is to ensure that there are no disruptions during the Lord Shiva worship by the devotees and their devotion.”

Gupta said that the Kanwar Yatra arrangements, which had fallen prey to alleged corruption and mismanagement during the previous governments’ regimes, will now become a symbol of service, good governance, and devotion.

Minister Ashish Sood, speaking to reporters following the press conference, stated that ‘Mukhyamantri Dharmik Utsav Samiti’ will be constituted for the overall coordination, and the DBT system will ensure transparency.

He said that up to 1200 units of free electricity will be provided for the registered committees for the camps.

To ensure the safety and security of the devotees, Home Guards and Civil Defence Volunteers will be deployed to assist at the Kanwar camps.

Meanwhile, Minister Kapil Mishra assured that the decisions announced by the CM will ensure a smooth and hassle-free experience during the Yatra for the Lord Shiva devotees.

The CM also said that the government has discussed with all the agencies concerned to ensure the smooth movement of traffic during the Kanwar yatra, so that the devotees do not face any difficulty, and at the same time there are no traffic jams in the city during the yatra.