JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said his government was committed to the development and expansion of religious sites and will spend Rs 100 crore this year for the purpose as announced in the budget.
Gehlot was addressing a gathering in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district where he offered prayers and participated in a ritual at the Shantinath Jain Temple in Seemalwada.
He mentioned that Sammed Shikharji, a holy site for the Jain community located in Jharkhand, has been added to the pilgrimage sites of the ‘Senior Citizens Pilgrimage Scheme‘.
“The principles of Lord Mahavir are an inspiration to us all. Mahatma Gandhi also followed the path of truth, non-violence and peace as told by Jain sages and succeeded in getting us freedom from the British. We should imbibe the same message to ourselves and the coming generations,” Gehlot said.
The chief minister pointed out that it was due to these principles that the United Nations decided to observe Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti as the International Day of Non-Violence.
The chief minister said he attended a Jain school for his early education where he learnt the lessons of peace and non-violence.
During his one-day visit to Dungarpur, the chief minister also inspected the relief camps in the district.
Talking to reporters, Gehlot said he was elated about the government’s ‘Inflation Relief Camp’ initiative reaching 1.16 crore registrations and the number of guarantee cardholders crossing 5.29 crore.
Insisting on a caste census for the country, Gehlot said in pursuance of the resolution passed by the Congress in its Raipur session, he and party president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in favour of the census.
The Rajasthan assembly elections are scheduled for this year-end.