JEDDAH, 18 May 2005 — Ten thousand more pilgrims will be coming from India to perform Haj this year, according to the country’s Minister of State for External Affairs Minister (foreign affairs) E. Ahamad who formally signed the annual Haj agreement with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh yesterday.
Haj Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsy and Ahamad signed the agreement to facilitate the incoming of Indian Haj pilgrims.
“This year, following the Kingdom’s decision, the accommodation per pilgrim in Makkah will increase from 3 sq m to 3.5 sq m,” Ahamad said.
Accompanying Dr. Al-Farsy were Deputy Minister for Haj Hatim Qazi, Yasin Fatani, director Haj, Makkah branch, Hamid Hassan Bakri, director Haj Madinah branch, Deputy Minister for Umrah Eisa Ruwais, Tawafa Organization for South Asian Pilgrims’ Deputy Chairman Dr. Rashad Muhammad Hussain, United Agency Office Chairman Farouk Ahmad Zaid, and General Cars Syndicate Chairman Lt. Gen. Zakaria Jouharjee.
“While 85,000 pilgrims will come through the Haj committee of India (HCI) — the same number as last year, 10,000 more pilgrims will come through private tour operators, the minister told a press conference at the Consulate General of India shortly before emplaning for New Delhi. India’s Ambassador M.O.H. Farook and Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed accompanied him.
“The number of pilgrims coming through private tour operators will go up from 45,000 last year to 55,000 this year,” Ahamad said, adding that the government had decided to take measures to regulate the registration and performance of private tour operators. “They will have to register with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) or with the association of tour operators that are already registered with the ministry,” he said.
The Indian government increased last year’s number of pilgrims by 10,000 to accommodate every applicant that approached the HCI. As against 72,000 who performed the previous Haj, last year’s number went up to 81,000, though the quota was for 82,000 pilgrims.
In addition, another 45,000 Indian pilgrims performed the Haj through private tour operators, thus taking the total number of Indian Haj pilgrims to an all-time high of 127,000.
“This number will now go up to 137,000,” Ahamad said.
In order to minimize hardships for pilgrims traveling from the interior of the country, the government added three new embarkation points at Aurangabad, Guwahati and Patna last year, increasing the total number to 15 which will be maintained this year too.
Ahamad said talks with the Presidency of Civil Aviation and Saudi Arabian Airlines, as well as Air-India for transporting Haj pilgrims would follow. “This year, 37,000 pilgrims will fly to Madinah and 100,000 others to the Haj Terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport from India’s various embarkation points,” the minister said.
Aside from the ambassador and the consul general, those present included Sanjay Singh, joint secretary (Gulf/Haj) at the MEA, HCI Chairman Tanveer Ahmad, Dr. Naseem Zaidi, joint secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Consulate General of India’s Consul (Haj) Majid Padar, and Consul (Information & Administration) Hifzur Rahman.
