Bhubaneswar(Samrudha Odisha) Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik flagged off the 8th trip of Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana (BNTYY) from Bhubaneswar Railway Station today. This is the 8th trip of BNTYY pilgrimage train approved during 2023-24. A total of 1000 (960 nos of pilgrims along with 40 nos of Escort Officers) from the district of Khurdha, Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur and Dhenkanal will visit Tirupati-Vellore. This is the 8th year of this Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana from its inception in the year 2016-17. The scheme was launched by State Government to enable the poor and deprived Senior Citizens of the State for realization of their lifelong dream of having one Titha Yatra (Pilgrimage) to fulfillment of their spiritual aspirations with the support of the State Government. So far, 27 such trips have been organized in collaboration with IRCTC under this Yojana benefiting more than 26669 Senior Citizens (including Escort Officers) having age group of 60 to 75 years of the State. This is 28th trip and a total of 27669 nos of pilgrims have availed this scheme as of today.The dignitaries present in the flagging off ceremony from Bhubaneswar were Sri Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Minister, Steel & Mines, Works, Sri Aswini Kumar Patra, Minister, Tourism, OLLC, Smt. Sulochana Das, Mayor, BMC, Dr. Lenin Mohanty, Chairman, OTDC, Sri Durga Prasad Samantaray, Advisor, BNTYY, Sri Balamukunda Bhuyan, Addl. Secretary, Tourism Department and other officials.
Report : Rajat Mohapatra