79,237 Indians to fly for Hajj after virus break
MUMBAI: Ater a gap of two years of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, as many as 79,237 Indian Muslims will fly to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj-2022 pilgrimage which will start from July onwards, officials said here on Saturday.
They include around 50 per cent women with 22,636 going via Hajj Group Organisers and the remaining 56,601 through the Hajj Commitee of India, from among 83,140 applications including 72,170 online, said Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
More than 1,800 Muslim women will go for Hajj 2022 without “Mehram” (male companion), and without the lotery system, he added.
Naqvi was inaugurating a two-day training camp for 400 “Khadim-ul-hujjaj” including 12 women, who will assist the Indian Hajj pilgrims in Makkah-madina with processes related to Hajj, accommodation, transport, health and safety.
They will be trained by officials from HCI, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Disaster Management agencies, doctors, airlines, customs and immigration professionals.
The minister said that Hajj is taking place with significant reforms giving utmost priority to health and well-being of the Hajj pilgrims and all processes have been chalked out jointly by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia based on criteria like age, health, etc.
“We are making all out efforts to ensure there is no additional financial burden on the pilgrims as they will perform the Hajj without any subsidy.” “Process is going on to take accommodation, transportation and other necessary facilities in Saudi Arabia at affordable prices,” Naqvi said.
The selection process of Hajj pilgrims was in accordance with the COVID-19 vaccination protocols and other norms decided by the two governments, he said. Naqvi said the government has arranged 10 flight embarkation points for Hajj 2022 pilgrims going through HCI - Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar.
The entire Hajj 2022 process was digital/online and has been extremely beneficial to ensure health and well-being of the people besides transparent, accessible, affordable and convenient Haj pilgrimage, Naqvi pointed out.
All Hajj pilgrims shall get a Digital Health Card, “E-MASIHA” health facility and “E-luggage pretagging,” providing all information regarding accommodation/transportationinmakkah-madinah.
Utar Pradesh leads with a total of 8,701 pilgrims, followed by West Bengal (5,911), Jammu & Kashmir (5,281), Kerala (5,274), Maharashtra (4,874), Assam (3,544), Karnataka (2,764), Gujarat (2,533), Bihar (2,210), Rajasthan (2,072), Telangana (1,822), Madhya Pradesh (1,780), Jharkhand (1,559), Tamil Nadu (1,498), Andhra Pradesh (1,201).