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Basharat Peer in New Delhi
The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to stop charging an exorbitant entry fee for vehicles carrying pilgrims to Vaishno Devi and Amarnath.
Recently, it had ordered that every vehicle carrying pilgrims to Vaishno Devi in Jammu or to the Amarnath shrine in the Kashmir valley had to pay Rs 2,000 as entry fee.
The order further said that that every vehicle, which stays for more than three days at Vaishno Devi and at Amarnath for more than seven days would have to pay an additional fee of Rs 2,000 per day after this period.
"The government has put the order in abeyance some days back and entry fee is not being charged now," Mohammed Salim, the Regional Transport Officer, Jammu, told rediff.com. He, however, did not give any reasons for the move.
Considering the heavy inflow of pilgrims throughout the year to the Vaishno Devi shrine, the government might have looked at it as another revenue generator.
The increase in the entry fee, however, would have led to a hike in the vehicle rental fares.
And given the religious nature of the journey, it could have also provided right-wing parties a chance to criticise the National Conference government.
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