Madhya Pradesh became the first Indian state to offer air travel facility to senior citizens going for pilgrimage as 32 senior citizens from the state on Sunday left from Bhopal for Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh on a free pilgrimage by air under a scheme of the state government.
Meanwhile, state chief Shivraj Singh Chouhan reached Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal to greet the senior citizens, comprised of 24 men and eight women.
Chouhan recently announced that an air travel facility would be included within the scheme.
According to state government officials, this is the first time that beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Tirth-Darshan Yojana (chief minister Pilgrimage Scheme) in Madhya Pradesh travel by air.
Media reports, quoting officials, have said that so far, 782,000 senior citizens have availed the benefit of the pilgrimage scheme and travelled by train.
The officials further added that senior citizens from the state will travel by air in different batches until July this year from various airports in the state under the first phase of the air travel facility.