Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana, Chhattisgarh

What is Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana?

Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana is a pilgrimage scheme of the Tourism Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, launched on 5 March 2024 after the consecration of the Shri Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Under the scheme, residents of Chhattisgarh are taken to Ayodhya for darshan at the Ram Mandir at no cost to themselves, travelling in organised groups by special train.

Chhattisgarh has a particular reason to run this scheme. In local tradition Ayodhya is the home of Lord Ram's father-in-law's family and Chhattisgarh is identified with Kaushalya's Kosal, making Ram a bhanja, a nephew, of the region. The scheme is commonly referred to as Shri Ramlala Darshan Yojana and some notices call it the Ram Lalla Darshan Yatra.

According to the scheme documents, the Government of Chhattisgarh bears "all travel expenses such as food, boarding and lodging", including transport from the pilgrim's home area to the nearest railway station or bus stop and back. The Tourism Department is the nodal agency and works with district collectorates and Indian Railways to run the trips.

Scale of the scheme

• 20,000 residents are to be sent every year.
• Each trip carries roughly 850 to 1,000 pilgrims.
• Around 22,100 devotees had travelled by 22 January 2025, within the first year of operation.
• A budget provision of about Rs 36 crore was made for 2025-26.

Who is eligible for Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana?

You can be selected if:

• You are a permanent resident of Chhattisgarh.
• You are aged between 18 and 75 years.
• You are medically fit to travel, certified by a government doctor.
• You can provide emergency contact details of a family member staying behind.

Priority and quotas

• Applicants aged 55 and above are given priority, which was the stated rule for the first phase.
• Applicants aged 65 and above may take one assistant with them.
• 75 per cent of places go to rural applicants and 25 per cent to urban applicants.

You are not eligible if:

• You are below 18 or above 75 years of age. Both ends of the range are applied strictly, because the trip involves unaccompanied group travel and long physical exertion.
• You are not a permanent resident of Chhattisgarh. Residence in the state without domicile proof is not accepted.
• You cannot obtain a medical fitness certificate from a government doctor. A pilgrim found unfit at boarding can be offloaded even after selection.
• You have already travelled once under the scheme. The intent is to reach new pilgrims each year rather than repeat the same group.

What documents are required?

Voter ID, driving licence, Aadhaar and ration card are all accepted as the photo identity carried on the journey. Carry the original, not a photocopy, on boarding day.

How to apply for Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana

1. Watch for the application notice issued by your district collectorate, gram panchayat or municipal office before each announced trip. Applications are called district-wise rather than on a single statewide date.
2. Collect the application form free of cost from your gram panchayat office if you live in a rural area, or from the nagar nigam, nagar palika or nagar panchayat office if you live in an urban area. Forms can also be downloaded and submitted physically at the same offices.
3. Get a medical fitness certificate from a government doctor at your primary health centre, community health centre or district hospital. Do this early, it is the step that most often delays an application.
4. Fill the form with your name, age, address, Aadhaar number and the emergency contact of a family member who is not travelling. If you are 65 or above and want an assistant, name that person on the form.
5. Attach the domicile proof, Aadhaar, age proof, medical certificate and photographs, and submit the complete set at the panchayat or municipal office.
6. Collect the acknowledgement receipt with your application number.
7. Watch for the selection list, which is drawn by lottery where applications exceed the quota, and check whether your name appears in the selected list or the waiting list.

How selection actually works

Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana receives far more applications than there are places, so a lottery is used once eligibility is verified. The lottery runs within the fixed quotas: 75 per cent rural, 25 per cent urban, and with priority applied to the 55-and-above age group.

A waiting list equal to 25 per cent of the quota is prepared alongside the selected list. Selected pilgrims regularly drop out — a family emergency, illness before departure, or a failed fitness check at boarding, and waiting-list candidates from the same district are called in order to fill those seats. If you are on the waiting list, keep your documents ready and your phone reachable in the days before departure, because the call can come at short notice.

What the trip includes

• Rail travel to Ayodhya and back on a special train arranged with Indian Railways.
• Food throughout the journey and the stay.
• Boarding and lodging at Ayodhya.
• Local transport from your home area to the departure railway station or bus stop and back at the end of the trip.
• Escort staff and medical support travelling with the group, in the same pattern the state uses for its other pilgrimage trains.

Some trips have been routed to include Varanasi alongside Ayodhya. The exact itinerary is announced with each batch, so confirm it in your district's departure notice rather than assuming it from an earlier trip.

How to check your selection status

1. Ask your gram panchayat secretary or ward officer for the selected and waiting list for your area, which is displayed at the office.
2. Check the district collectorate notice board or its website, where district-wise lists are commonly published.
3. Call the toll-free number 18001026415 or 0771-4224600 with your application number.
4. Confirm your departure date, boarding station and reporting time in writing before you travel, and collect the pilgrim identity card issued before departure.

Why applications get rejected

• No medical fitness certificate, or a certificate from a private doctor where a government doctor's certificate was required.
• Age outside 18 to 75 on the date of application.
• Domicile proof missing. An Aadhaar card with a Chhattisgarh address is not by itself accepted as domicile proof in every district.
• Emergency contact left blank, which is treated as an incomplete form.
• Repeat application by someone who has already travelled under the scheme.
• Not selected in the lottery. This is not a rejection of eligibility, and the same applicant can apply again for a later trip.

Help and grievance redressal

• Toll-free helpline: 18001026415
• Tourism Department: 0771-4224600
• Portal: tourism.cg.gov.in
• In person: gram panchayat secretary, ward officer, or the district collectorate's tourism or pilgrimage cell

Application forms and the pilgrimage itself are completely free. No panchayat official, travel agent or middleman may charge money for a place on a Shri Ram Lalla Darshan Yojana trip, and any such demand should be reported on the toll-free number or in writing to the district collector.