Prof Rishi Dogra
The Vaishno Devi pilgrimage resumed on Aug 16 amidst high expectations and lurking fears. Haunt of nearly one crore devotees annually, the holy shrine, singular exception in the world which remains open 24-hours-a-day for darshanas, has remained out-of-bounds for the pilgrims right since 18th of March 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. This is for the first time in living memory that the pilgrimage had to be suspended since that was the only way the spread of the pandemic could effectively be checked in the larger interests of the pilgrims coming here from different parts of the country and in the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, including the local population of Katra as well as lots of people from other parts of Jammu and Kashmir engaged in different activities in Katra township as small time contractual and salaried workers, hotel and guest house staff, auto rickshaw and taxi operators, tour and travel agents, porters, poneywallas, service boys in tea stalls and dhabas and so forth. Now, after a long pause and wait of nearly 5 months, Shri Mata Vaishno Shrine Board (SMVDSB) in close coordination with the district administration has opened the holy shrine for darshanas and that is a welcome news.
The broad contours of pilgrimage have already been spelt out through an elaborate regime of SOPs and it is everyone’s hope and expectation that all will go well. Initially five thousand pilgrims per day will be the intake. Of them, four thousand and five hundred will be from the UT of J&K and the remaining five hundred from outside the state.Pilgrims from outside the UT of J&K and also those coming from the Red-zone areas of the UT shall have to be tested for Covid-19 at Katra town itself with results to be made available within short time. Only those testing Covid negative shall be allowed to move onwards to the holy cave. Pilgrims above sixty years of age, children below 10 years and pregnant women should better postpone their pilgrimage for the time being, as mentioned in the advisory. Overnight stay at Bhawan is not allowed. The existing norms of social distancing shall have to be strictly observed. Covering face with masks will be mandatory. No Prasad will be provided at the shrine. Pilgrims are also advised to avoid touching temple bells, idols or any kind of surfaces and not to carry their mobile phones while going to the holy cave for darshanas. Leather belts, wallets purses and cameras etc are also not allowed inside the cave as per the prevalent practice.
Needless to point out the resumption of pilgrimage at this point of time is challenging both for the pilgrims as well as the authorities. The UT of J&K is witnessing a steady rise in the Covid-19 caseload at the moment and slightest mistake anywhere down the line can worsen the situation. Restraint and discipline alone are our trusted weapons against the unrelenting pandemic at the moment.
The decision to resume the pilgrimage after five months of debilitating shutdown is unarguably bold and unconservative. There are concerns that couldn’t have been possible to underplay for long. Any regular watcher of morning and evening aarti from Bhawan beamed live by Shradha channel everyday would tell you how desolate the shrine looked all these days which used to be filled up by milling crowds earlier. Any casual visitor to Katra township in recent months and weeks would narrate the collective misery of the holy town where all the shops and business establishments appear to have gone into hibernation and all sights and sounds having suddenly drowned into an overwhelming silence.
People of Katra town are in awe and fear and panic is writ large on every face. Overnight, they have been reduced into mute spectators of their total decimation. As the very existence of the town is dependent upon round-the-year Vaishno devi pilgrimage, there is little they can do to put their lives back on the track. Only the resumption of pilgrimage can give them a new lease of life. It may be quite a shocker for other than townsmen to know that Unlock -01,-02 or Unlock-03 have little meaning for the people here as long as the pilgrimage remains suspended. All the dry fruit shops, all the shawls emporia, all the gift shops, all the dhabas and restaurants, all the hotels, all the guest houses, all the travel and tour concerns and so on will come back to life only when pilgrims start pouring in and as long as that doesn’t happen, people will simply keep wringing their hands in despair. Not only there has been the sudden drying up of all the sources of income, the meager savings of the people have been drained out by idle spending during the lockdown period that virtually will stretch on as long as pilgrimage is not resumed.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board(SMVDSB) has been looking after the overall development,streamlining and management of the holy shrine since 1986, the year it came into existence. Shortly after coming into being SMVDSB started a new era of development. Bhawan complex got aspectacular facelift in the initial stage followed by vast improvements in accommodation and sanitation facilities, electrification and water supply, beautification and plantation all along the 15 kilometer on-foot track to the holy shrine on a continuing basis, picture-perfect regulation of an ever growing pilgrimage, adequate security arrangements, provision of medical facilities both at Bhawan and Katra town and so on. Among other notable achievements of SMVDSB are the setting up of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board University (SMVDSBU) at Kakryal (near Katra town) and Narayana Hospital, Kakryal-a multi-speciality hospital. Latest add-ons to the existing facilities are Bhawan to Bhairon Ghati Chair-car and an alternate track from Adh-Kunwari to Katra via Tarakot to decongest the existing track that usually gets overcrowded during peak rush days. Shrine Board has shown its genuine concerns for the comfort and convenience of pilgrims by operating a fleet of eco-friendly battery cars between Adh-Kunwari and Bhawan to take care of the aged,ailing and the differently-abled pilgrims while negotiating through the steep-rise stretch of the journey right up toBhawan.
SMVDSB is headed by the LG of the UT as its Chairman and an IAS officer as its Chief Executive Officer. ‘The total workforce of the Shrine Board is over 2800,including 80 priests and 700 safaikaramcharies…it suffered a loss of Rs 65-70 crores till May 20, 2020 (Daily Tribune, dispatch filed by Arteev Sharma on May 20, 2020).This loss is for two months and if we take average loss per month as Rs 35 crores or thereabouts, the net loss for five months of lockdown comes to nearly Rs 175 crores. Since the donations have nosedived to zero-level during these tough times, it is straining the coffers of the Shrine Board a bit too hard and overstretched financially it is reportedly finding it hard to even meet the expenses on account of salary of the employees on a regular basis.
Like Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, the entire business community of Katra township and that of small traders from Banganga to Bhawan (there are approximately One thousand shops enroute) is going through an unprecedented financial drought. Their wares, be they dry fruits or shawls or miscellaneous gift items, arerotting behind the shutters that continue to remain closed for five months at stretch. Similarly, EMIs are piling up,electricity bills are unpaid, the school and college fees of wards are pending and day to day expenditure on groceries, milk and milk products, vegetables and medicines continues to be consistent if not more. It is very unfortunate that those who were the job providers to hundreds of thousands of jobless youth as salesmen, room boys in guest houses and hotels, service boys in dhabas and restaurants and so on have themselves become jobless. Nothing short of an adequate financial package for the people of the town irrespective of the trade they are engaged in, can undo the damage that has been done by the pandemic. The cumulative losses suffered by the traders of Katra town run in thousands of crores of Rupees and unless timely help is provided they will continue to live in a state of utter helplessness. Tragically, no fact finding team has thus far been appointed for the purpose by either the UT government or the Government of India.
It is presumed that the decision to revive pilgrimage has been taken after thorough evaluation and scrutiny of the prevailing pandemic scenario both at the national level as well as in the UT of J&K. The way forward is quite challenging. The pandemic and its behavior is defiantly difficult to foresee except that certain broad guidelines can be trusted as shield against its unwelcome intrusion while resumption of pilgrimage finally takes place. We need to be vigilant and extra-cautious both.
No deviation from the laboriously worked out SOPs is to be brooked nor there has to be any panic reaction if at all something goes wrong somewhere in the whole process. Discretion, continuing review and positive approach should be the basis of all decision making. Just giving go-ahead and then taking a sudden U-turn will only do greater harm than good to the cause of pilgrimage, to the objectives and goals of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and to the people of Katra town on a long-term basis. So, the district administration, the Shrine Board and the people of Katra are well advised to move forward with the blessings of Vaishno Mata with all precautions and finally tear through the challenges they confront in this exercise with an unwavering mind, foresight, courage and optimism.
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