Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana

What is Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana?

Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana is a Madhya Pradesh scheme that pays for senior citizens of the state to go on a pilgrimage outside Madhya Pradesh, free of cost. The scheme is run by the Department of Religious Trusts and Endowments: Dharmasva evam Dharmik Nyas Vibhag, and was launched in June 2012. It is one of the state's best-known welfare schemes and is often written as Tirth Darshan Yojana or "मुख्यमंत्री तीर्थ दर्शन योजना".

Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana works by chartering special trains through IRCTC. A departure is announced for a particular destination, districts are allotted a number of seats, applications are invited, travellers are selected, and the train leaves from a designated station with departmental staff and, on most journeys, an accompanying medical team. The traveller pays nothing at any stage.

What the scheme covers

• Travel by special rail to the pilgrimage destination and back.
• Breakfast, meals and pure drinking water throughout the journey.
• Accommodation at the pilgrimage site.
• Bus travel for local transfers where needed.
• Guides and other facilities arranged by the department where the destination requires them.

Destinations covered over the years include Kashi (Varanasi), Rameshwaram, Jagannath Puri, Dwarka, Tirupati, Shirdi, Amritsar, Vaishno Devi, Ajmer Sharif, Gaya, Shravanabelagola and Velankanni, among others. The exact list for any given year is published by the department on dharmasva.mp.gov.in, and the same department also runs the separate Sindhu Darshan (Ladakh), Kailash Mansarovar, Hinglaj Devi and Sri Lanka Sita Temple pilgrimage schemes.

In 2023 Madhya Pradesh added an air pilgrimage component, becoming the first Indian state to fly senior citizens to pilgrimage destinations. The first flight left Bhopal airport for Prayagraj on 21 May 2023. The air component runs alongside, not instead of, the main rail scheme, and it carries tighter selection because seats are far fewer.

Who is eligible for Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana?

You can travel if:

• You are a permanent resident of Madhya Pradesh.
• You have completed 60 years of age. Women get a two-year relaxation and qualify at 58.
• You are not an income tax payer.
• You are physically and mentally fit to travel and hold a doctor's certificate saying so.
• You have 60 per cent or more disability, in which case there is no age bar at all.
• You are the spouse of an eligible applicant and wish to travel together — the life partner may travel even if under 60.

You are not eligible if:

• You pay income tax. This is an explicit exclusion and the form carries a declaration on it.
• You are below the age threshold and are not travelling as the spouse of an eligible applicant, and do not have 60 per cent or more disability.
• You are not a resident of Madhya Pradesh.
• You suffer from a communicable disease such as tuberculosis, or from a cardiac or other condition that makes long-distance travel unsafe. District notifications list infectious diseases and serious cardiac conditions as disqualifying, because the journey involves days in a shared coach.
• You are medically unfit and cannot obtain a fitness certificate.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana

1. Watch for the yatra notification. The Department of Religious Trusts and Endowments announces each journey separately on dharmasva.mp.gov.in, with the destination, the departure date, the districts covered and the last date for applications. Districts also publish it on their NIC websites.
2. Download and fill the application form. Get the prescribed form from dharmasva.mp.gov.in, or collect it from the tehsil office, the collectorate, the nagar nigam or the janpad panchayat. Fill it in Hindi, that is a stated requirement.
3. Get the medical fitness certificate. Have a registered doctor certify that you are physically and mentally fit for the journey and free of infectious disease. Do this before the last date, not after selection.
4. Attach the documents. Paste the colour photograph, attach copies of Aadhaar or voter ID and age proof, sign the non-income-tax declaration, and fill in the emergency contact details of a relative.
5. Submit the form at the tehsil office, the collectorate, the nagar palika/nagar nigam or the janpad panchayat of your area, before the last date in the notification, and take a receipt.
6. If applying as a group, name one member as the group head and main applicant and submit all the forms together. A group cannot exceed 25 persons.
7. Watch for the selection list. The district administration prepares the list, drawing a lottery where applications exceed the seats allotted, and publishes a waiting list from the remaining applicants.
8. Report at the departure station on the date and time given in the intimation, carrying the original identity document.

How to check whether you have been selected

Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana selection is handled at district level rather than through a public online tracker:

1. Check the selection list published by the collectorate or the tehsil where you submitted the form.
2. Ask at the tehsil office with the receipt number given when you applied.
3. The district administration usually intimates selected travellers locally, by phone or through the tehsil, before the departure date.
4. If you were on the waiting list, stay reachable; seats freed up by medical withdrawals are filled from that list, sometimes at short notice.

Why applications get rejected

• Income tax payer. The single clearest disqualification, and it is checked.
• Age short of the threshold. A person turning 60 a month after the departure date will not be selected for that journey; apply for the next one.
• No medical fitness certificate, or a certificate that does not address fitness for travel. This is the most common documentation failure.
• Medical condition disclosed at screening. Tuberculosis or another infectious disease, or a serious cardiac condition, will stop the traveller even after selection, because the department is responsible for the group's safety on a multi-day train journey.
• Form filled in English or incomplete. The form is required to be filled in Hindi, and forms without the emergency contact details are set aside.
• Group larger than 25. Split it into groups of 25 or fewer.
• Submitted after the last date. Each yatra has its own deadline and late forms are not carried forward automatically.

Practical advice for travellers

Carry your original Aadhaar or voter ID on the journey, along with a small supply of any regular medication in its original packaging, and a copy of the medical fitness certificate. Journeys typically run several days, and the department's arrangements cover food and lodging but not personal medicines. Keep the emergency contact you listed informed of the itinerary. Alcohol and smoking are not permitted on the special trains.

Where to get help

• Department of Religious Trusts and Endowments: dharmasva.mp.gov.in, which publishes each yatra notification and the application form
• District collectorate or tehsil office, which handles applications, selection and departure logistics for your district
• CM Helpline: 181, for complaints about selection or arrangements

No fee is charged to apply for or to travel under Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana. No agent can secure a seat, since selection is done by the district administration and by lottery where applications exceed seats. This guide does not list a scheme-specific helpline number because the department does not publish one; contact your district collectorate for the current nodal officer.