Review meeting on completion of Haj 2017 at Haj House, Mumbai
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said here that just concluded Haj 2017 was very successful and smooth as the Central Government had completed all the necessary preparations well before time in cooperation and coordination with concerned agencies.
Chairing a review meeting on completion of Haj 2017 at Haj House Mumbai, Shri Naqvi said that ensuring safety and world class facilities to the pilgrims was our priority. We completed our all the preparations keeping this in mind to ensure smooth Haj pilgrimage.
Shri Naqvi congratulated Haj Committee of India, Air India and other concerned agencies for their support, cooperation ensuring smooth and hassle-free Haj 2017. He said that the Saudi Arabia Government played a key role in ensuring smooth Haj this year. He thanked the Saudi Arabia Government for their cooperation.
A total of 1,24,940 Haj pilgrims performed Haj this year by 454 flights between 24th July to 28th August through Haj Committee of India. About 45,000 pilgrims went through private tour operators. India’s Haj quota for 2017 had been increased significantly by Saudi Arabia Government to 1,70,025.
Haj pilgrims from India went to Saudi Arabia from 21 embarkation points- Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Guwahati, Lucknow, Mangalore, Varanasi, Srinagar, Kolkata, Gaya, Ranchi, Bhopal, Bangalore, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Chennai, Cochin, Jaipur, Indore, Hyderabad.
From Ahmedabad, a total of 11073 Haj pilgrims went to Haj this year. Besides Ahmedabad, Haj pilgrims went through Aurangabad (2764); Bangalore (4734); Bhopal (1758); Chennai (3440); Cochin (11805); Delhi (16627); Gaya (6484); Goa (656); Gauhati (4472); Hyderabad (6347); Indore (1794); Jaipur (4767); Kolkata (10263); Lucknow (12314); Mangalore (768); Mumbai (6297); Nagpur (2181); Ranchi (3133); Srinagar (8103) and Varanasi (5072).
Shri Naqvi said that a four-member committee, headed by IAS (retd) Shri Afzal Amanullah which was formed to prepare new Haj Policy 2018-22, will submit its recommendations tomorrow. Haj from next year will be organised according to this new Haj policy. The new Haj policy is aimed at making Haj process transparent and smooth.
Haj Committee of India Chairman Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Shri Ahmad Javed, CJI Jeddah Mohd Noor Rahman Sheikh, Members of Haj Committee of India and senior officials from Minority Affairs Ministry also attended the review meeting in Mumbai.
