NEW DELHI, 28 October 2004 — Indian Haj pilgrims, who enjoy some of the best facilities during the pilgrimage, can look forward to still better arrangements in terms of transport, accommodation and food, External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh said yesterday.
“The welfare and well-being of Haj pilgrims have always been a matter of concern to the government,” Natwar said while inaugurating the All-India Annual Haj Conference here.
Chairmen and secretaries of state Haj committees, parliamentarians and religious scholars attended the conference, which was also addressed by Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed and Central Haj Committee Chairman Tanveer Ahmed. With Saudi Arabia agreeing to increase the quota of Indian pilgrims going under the aegis of the Haj Committee by 10,000, a total of 82,000 pilgrims will benefit from the arrangements being made by the government and the Haj Committee, Natwar said.
In addition, 42,000 other pilgrims will undertake the Haj through private tour operators. The pilgrims going under the auspices of the Haj Committee enjoy subsidized air tickets, accommodation and medical care.
Natwar described the Haj arrangements India makes for its pilgrims as the “most complex organizational task outside the country’s border”. Some 30,000 pilgrims will have the facility of landing directly at Madinah next year instead of Jeddah, the minister said. This was an “important milestone in Haj logistics” that will lower expenditure and make the pilgrimage more convenient. The number of embarkation points for the pilgrims in India had also been increased to 15, he said.
