Boosting of internal tourism in Uttarakhand would be given emphasis, said chief minister Harish Rawat while flagging off ‘Maire bujurg, maire teerth‘, an officially sponsored pilgrimage for a group of local senior citizens to Badrinath here on Thursday.
According to him, about 3000 senior citizens from all the 13 districts in the state will visit Badrinath this year. He noted saying he would turn this yatra as a movement to send out a message that the Char Dham Yatra is is totally safe now after the ravaged 2013 flash floods, which will also boost the state tourism. The CM also told to have inaugurated nine new branches of the Canara bank to be set up on the Chardham yatra route.
Additional secretary, tourism Shailesh Bagauli, while speaking on the occasion, said during the inaugural pilgrimage to Badrinath a batch of 26 senior citizens each were flagged off from Dehradun and nearby Haridwar.
CM congratulated the senior citizens at the inaugural function and ensured that he would try that the Chardham yatra becomes easier for elderly women in future. “The initiative will also help motivate the officials to attract more tourists to the state by projecting the unique scenic beauty it is endowed with.”
The other significant objective of the initiative was to remind the society about the old values that taught the people to respect senior citizens. The initiative (maire bujurg, maire teerth) would help revive those old values. It will also inspire the people to treat senior citizens with the respect they deserve,” the CM said.
News Src : Hindustan Times, Dehradun
img src : templenet
Published Date: September 26, 2014
