75,000 Indian pilgrims arrive

Up to 75,000 Indian pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom for Haj. Indian Consul General Faiz Ahmed Kidwai told reporters in Jeddah Wednesday that the Consulate General of India has been making constant and concerted efforts to improve the services provided to Indian pilgrims. Four hundred and seventy-nine buildings have been hired to accommodate 125,000 pilgrims coming through the Haj Committee of India. Private tour operators will host an additional 45,000 pilgrims.
Medical services are being extended to the pilgrims by the Indian Haj Mission which include comprehensive lab testing, basic investigations, radiographic investigation and ultrasonography, which are considered one of the best and well organized services.
Exhaustive and elaborate arrangements are being made to extend medical facilities to Saudi pilgrims as well. Besides the 60-bed hospital in Makkah which is set up every year, another 30-bed hospital will be operational in the Azizia area of Makkah to meet the medical requirement of about 65,000 pilgrims who will be staying there.
Aside from these two hospitals, 11 branch dispensaries will also be working. In Madinah, one main dispensary and five branch dispensaries have been set up.
“We have more than 478 housing locations to accommodate the Indian pilgrims in Makkah. We have also set up two hospitals in Makkah and one hospital in Madinah to provide health services,” said Kidwai.
“All the Indian pilgrims who are sponsored by the government have been insured against accidents. We set up plans to deal with emergency situations to help our pilgrims. Pilgrims who are performing Haj for the first time are being trained to use the Mashair rail service for traveling between holy sites,” he added.
“We have provided the pilgrims with more than 120,000 phone cards. Every Indian pilgrim has his or her own phone card,” he said.