2 lakh Indians will go to Haj this year, says Union minister

Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday announced that around two lakh Indians will be leaving for this year’s Haj pilgrimage. Last year,

Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday announced that around two lakh Indians will be leaving for this year’s Haj pilgrimage. Last year, Indians stood in the second highest number of pilgrims performing Haj, after Indonesia.

Maqsood Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer, Haj Committee of India, said the process for withdrawing names from the pilgrimage was done, and added that around 18,000-20,000 pilgrims will be travelling from Mumbai at an approximate cost of ₹67,000 per person. The pilgrimage will be held in July-August.

“We had received around 2.67 lakh applications this year, of which two lakh were selected. About 1.23 lakhs people will go through the Haj Committee and the rest through Haj Group organisers,” said Naqvi.

He added it was the first time that the Haj process went completely digital, as part of ‘Ease of doing Haj’. “India is the first country in the entire world which has made the entire Haj process 100% digital,” the Union minister said.

Around 2,100 women will be going for Haj without mehram (male companion) this year. The development comes two years after the Saudi government allowed Muslim women over the age of 45 to go on the pilgrimage without a mehram in a group of at least four. Of the 550 trainers, who will accompany the pilgrims this year, around 15% are women.