Odisha draws up ₹1,170 crore scheme to bring pilgrims to Jagannath temple
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha's Mohan Charan Majhi government is drawing up a scheme to facilitate the travel of nearly 1 million Jagannath devotees to Puri over the next five years, people familiar with the matter said.
The proposed scheme, Shree Jagannath Darshan Yojana, aims to bring 950,000 people from across the state to the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri via trains and buses. It is mostly aimed at people above the age of 50 years, particularly those from the weaker sections. There is no minimum age for widows to be eligible to make the pilgrimage under the scheme.
'The pilgrimage experience is expected to foster a sense of inner peace and spiritual harmony among the beneficiaries, which can positively impact their overall well-being and outlook towards life, a shared spiritual journey, fostering peace and harmony. Visiting the Jagannath temple remains a lifelong dream of millions of poor and vulnerable people in the state,' a tourism department official said.
The state government had first announced the scheme in February during the presentation of the state budget.
In 2016, the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government started the Baristha Nagarik Tirtha Yatra Yojana for Odisha residents in the 60-75 age group. Under this scheme, people could seek financial assistance to visit holy sites such as Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kamakhya, Shirdi, Nasik, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gaya, Tirupati, Ajmer, Pushkar and Mathura by train. But the beneficiaries had to share 50% of the travel and accommodation costs.
Under the Shree Jagannath Darshan Yatra scheme, the state government would end up spending anything between ₹6,700 to ₹17,000 per person, depending on the districts the devotees come from.
Unlike the Baristha Nagarik Tirtha Yatra Yojana, the new scheme does not require devotees to pay anything.
The devotees would be selected via a lottery, and it would be the responsibility of the district administration to pick up and drop off the devotees at home.
BJD scoffed at the scheme, saying the total number of beneficiaries was a little more than 2% of the state's projected population of over 46 million.
Senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said the proposed number of 950,000 looks too small when compared to the total population of the state. 'The government should try to include at least half of the targeted population so that poor people are not deprived of the scheme,' he said.
BJD MLA from Nayagarh Arun Sahoo recalled that when the previous Naveen Patnaik government came up with the Jagannath Parikrama project, the BJP criticised the move complaining that the BJD was using religion to garner votes. 'They are also doing the same thing. In the last year, BJP has done the same thing which we did. They have just renamed our schemes,' Sahoo added.
Political analyst Rabi Das said the scheme can foster emotional goodwill, particularly among rural and tribal communities. 'Its branding in the name of Jagannath avoids political backlash, broadening public acceptance and helping the BJP build a loyal voter base ahead of future elections. The scheme also counters the legacy of the Biju Janata Dal by appealing to marginalized groups traditionally aligned with the BJD,' he said.
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