Taken from Telegraph India.
The Union social justice and empowerment ministry is working on what will be the first central government pilgrimage scheme to benefit the disabled. The two largest existing pilgrimages funded and monitored by the Centre — Haj and the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra — bar the physically or mentally challenged.
The new scheme — which will also be the first Centre-run pilgrimage to offer the beneficiaries a choice from a list of destinations — is being modelled on Madhya Pradesh’s Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana (chief minister’s pilgrimage scheme) for senior citizens.
Launched in 2012, the Madhya Pradesh scheme states: “Followers of all the religions and communities can undertake journey to any pilgrimage centre of their choice (from the list).”
“Disabled people above 60 can avail this (central scheme) benefit once in their lifetime and the government will make it an all-expenses-paid tour. We’ll ensure the pilgrim has a comfortable stay. The logistics are being worked out,” a ministry official said.
While the Madhya Pradesh scheme has been a success, with the state claiming it benefits almost one lakh senior citizens every year, it categorically keeps out people with any disabilities.
“(The) pilgrim should be physically and mentally sound to undertake (the) journey and should not be suffering from any communicable disease like TB, difficulty in breathing, heart disease, leprosy, etc,” the scheme’s eligibility criteria state.
Ditto for the foreign ministry’s Haj policy, which says: “Any Muslim citizen of India can apply for Haj pilgrimage except persons suffering from polio, tuberculosis, congestive cardiac & respiratory ailment, acute coronary insufficiency, coronary thrombosis, mental disorder… persons who are crippled, handicapped, lunatic or otherwise physically incapacitated or suffering from amputation of legs.”
The Madhya Pradesh scheme has a list of 17 pilgrimage spots that is likely to be adopted by the Centre, sources said. The places listed are: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Puri (Jagannath temple), Dwarka, Haridwar, Amarnath, Vaishno Devi, Varanasi, Tirupati, Ajmer Sharif, Gaya, Shirdi, Rameswaram, Amritsar (Golden Temple), the Sammed Shikhar (Jain pilgrimage spot) in Jharkhand, Shravanabelagola (Jain) in Karnataka and the Velankanni Church in Nagapattinam.
S.K. Rungta, general secretary of the National Federation of the Blind, welcomed the move. “It is very expensive to hire private tour operators for pilgrimages. The pilgrimages are tough on the body and one needs facilities that would allow a disabled person to operate under those conditions,” Rungta said.
Sources said the central scheme might allow the disabled pilgrim to take an attendant along. Married beneficiaries’ spouses could be considered for the trip even if they are below 60.
“It’s a welcome beginning but such schemes should be open to all. There is no age criterion for Haj, so why should there be any age criterion in these schemes? The scheme should include (disabled people) of all ages,” Rungta said.
Last year, the Chhattisgarh government opened its pilgrimage scheme to all disabled people from the state who are above the age of 18. Its list of destinations is similar to Madhya Pradesh’s. This scheme, therefore, most closely resembles the one the Centre is working on.
Social justice and empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, a Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, however, prefers to describe the planned central scheme as one modelled on the Madhya Pradesh scheme while being exclusively meant for the disabled, sources said.
Source: Telegraph India.
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