JEDDAH, 16 June 2004 — Saudi Arabia and India yesterday signed an agreement covering 117,000 Indian pilgrims for the next Haj.
The accord, signed by Minister of Haj Iyad Madani and Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, includes arrangements for 72,000 pilgrims through the Haj Committee of India (HCI) and 45,000 through private tour operators.
Ahamed, who on arrival on Sunday handed Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd a letter from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told a press conference at the Consulate General of India that 27,000 Indian pilgrims would arrive via Madinah International Airport for the first time, and 23,000 others will leave from there.
“This means a total of 50,000 Indian pilgrims perform Haj in a ‘linear manner’ — arriving at one spot, performing Haj and departing from another spot,” Ahamed said.
As in the previous years, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air-India will handle the transport of Indian pilgrims.
Ahamed also met the South Asian Moassassa chairman Adnan Katif to discuss specific facilities, including food arrangements in the Mashaer region.
The minister hinted that the new Congress-led government could restore the pilgrim travel subsidy withdrawn by the previous National Democratic Alliance government. “This is under our active consideration,” he said.
The Kingdom is taking steps to improve Haj arrangements. “On our part, we want to make the pilgrimage more hassle-free, helpful and comfortable for our pilgrims,” Ahamed said, adding the Indian mission’s personnel will also be drafted at the Haj Terminal in Jeddah and at Madinah airport to receive the pilgrims. One other measure being taken is to separate HCI pilgrims from the rest of Indian pilgrims to avoid confusion.
The consulate general is asking private Haj operators to provide details of their pilgrims early so they can be posted on its website alongside the details of HCI pilgrims.
Ahamed also outlined a number of planned community welfare measures. There is a move to do away with the attestation of documents related to an Indian who dies due to natural causes or accident. Indian deaths in the Kingdom average 1,100 annually. There are 3.5 million Indian expats in the Gulf, 1.5 million of them in the Kingdom.
“Such expenses can be met from the Indian mission’s welfare fund, or at the discretion of the ambassador or the consul general,” he said.
Soon to be established is a 24-hour helpline at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh for Indian residents needing assistance. There is also a move to organize an open forum for discussion among community members on second Thursday of each month, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. “All grievances and problems of our community can be openly discussed here. This is also aimed to reassure the community that the federal government is taking care of their needs,” he added.
The minister, who was accompanied by Joint Secretary (Gulf/Haj) R. Dayakar, leaves for Amman today.
