Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) signed here today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (JTDCL) to periodically arrange free pilgrimage tours for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) senior citizens residing in Jharkhand.
IRCTC, a ‘mini Ratna’ PSU of Indian Railways, and JTDCL, an undertaking of the Jharkhand government, will plan and execute religious tour packages under the “Mukhya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana”.
The MoU was initialled by Mr. Debashis Chandra, Group General Manager, IRCTC (Kolkata), and Dr. Waghmare Prasad Krishna, MD, JTDCL.
The tour packages under the scheme include 06 different itineraries within Jharkhand which includes Deoghar and Itkhori (Ma Bhadrakali temple). The 11 itineraries outside the state include Dwarka, Somnath, Puri, Tirupati, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Vaishno Devi, Shirdi, Nashik, Swarn Mandir (Amritsar), Goa (Basilica of Bom Jesus), Ajmer Sharif, and Sharavanabelgola (Karnataka).
As part of the agreement, IRCTC will arrange a special non-AC chartered train comprising 18 coaches (15 sleeper, 1 pantry and 2 luggage coach), which will be used for different tour packages on various dates.
The facilities provided during the trip include budget accommodation on a multi-sharing basis, onboard and off-board vegetarian meals (breakfast, lunch, evening tea and dinner), packaged drinking water, non-AC vehicles for road transportation, public address system, tour escort for each coach, security guards, and housekeeping staff.
Further, IRCTC, which would be responsible for chalking out the tour itinerary, will provide the services of a doctor during the journey and the accidental/death insurance. An official of the company will also be available for the entire duration of the trip.
The obligations of JTDCL include furnishing the list of religious destinations (maximum of 1000 passengers and minimum guarantee of 750 passengers) to IRCTC at least two months in advance for planning of tour itinerary and train schedule. It will also ensure the medical fitness of passengers before the commencement of each journey.
In addition, it will provide passenger list 15 days in advance to IRCTC for every tour package.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.
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