Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday flagged off the Samajwadi Shrawan Yatra-2015 under which over 900 devotees are being taken to Haridwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand.
Yadav also issued instructions to officials to ensure that no inconvenience comes to the travellers.
The state government, through its policies and schemes, is trying to bond together various religions and communities, Yadav said, adding that others tried to divide in the name of religion.
Principal secretary for religious affairs Navneet Sehgal said these pilgrims were being sent to Rishikesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand on a train chartered by the state government through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.
"Other than this, they would be given morning tea, breakfast, lunch, evening tea - only on the train journey - and a vegetarian dinner," Sehgal told IANS.
On this occassion, the chief minister also gave away subsidy cheques of Rs.50,000 each to pilgrims who have returned from the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and launched actor Dino Morea's website 'i-bhakti'.
