Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday approved the “Mukhyamantri teerth yatra yojana”. He overruled objections that that had been raised by the Lieutenant Governor.

Mukhyamantri teerth yatra yojana approved. All objections overruled. Dy CM will brief media today on its details

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 9, 2018

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“Mukhyamantri teerth yatra yojana approved. All objections overruled…,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot said the Delhi cabinet had on 8 January this year approved the Revenue Department’s proposal to begin the scheme titled Mukhyamantri teerth yatra yojana but it could not implemented due to some objections raised by the office of the Lieutenant Governor.

Earlier, the Lt Governor wanted the pilgrimage to be restricted to families below poverty line (BPL). However, after the Supreme Court verdict on 4 July that gave Delhi government the ultimate power to decide on policy matters, Kejriwal overruled LG’s objection and approved the scheme.

The Mukhyamantri teerth yatra yojana will enable 1,100 senior citizens from each Assembly constituency of Delhi per year to undertake free pilgrimage, the expenses for which will be borne by the Delhi government. It is proposed that a total of 77,000 pilgrims will be able to avail this facility every year.

The pilgrimage duration will be of three days and two nights and will be for any of the routes that include Delhi- Mathura-Vrindavan-Agra- Fatehpur Sikri-Delhi, Delhi- Haridwar-Rishikesh-Neelkanth- Delhi, Delhi-Ajmer- Pushkar-Delhi, Delhi-Amritsar- Bagha Border-Anandpur Sahib-Delhi, Delhi-Vaishno Devi-Jammu-Delhi.

Giving the details about the eligibility for the scheme, Gahlot said any resident of Delhi above 60 years will be eligible for the scheme.

“Those selected will be allowed to be accompanied by an attendant above 18 years of age, whose expenditure will also be borne by the government,” he said.

As per the scheme, an applicant should not be an employee of Central/state/local government or autonomous body. Those selected for pilgrimage will be covered with an insurance of Rs one lakh each.

The travel will be in A/C buses through coach tours of DTTDC, boarding lodging and food along with pilgrimage will be paid for by the government.