A record 2 lakh Indian pilgrims will perform Hajj this yearwith more than 48 per cent of them being women, Union Minority Affairs MinisterMukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Tuesday.
More than 2,340 women will perform Hajj without”Mehram” (male companion) this year, the Union minister said addinglast year, this number stood at 1,180.
Arrangements have made to send these women without thelottery system, he said.
In a first, all applicants from several states, includingUttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, will perform Hajj as”their waiting lists have been cleared due to increase in Hajjquota”, the minister said.
“For the first time since Independence, a record numberof 2 lakh Indian Muslims will go to Haj this year without any subsidy, on morethan 500 flights and from 21 embarkation points across the country,” Naqvisaid adding 48 per cent of them are women.
“While 1.40 lakh pilgrims will go through the HajjCommittee of India, 60,000 will go through Haj Group Organisers,” he said.
A total of 19 health centres — 16 in Mecca and 3 in Madina— have been established.
Besides, three hospitals in Mecca and one in Madina havebeen established to ensure proper health facilities to Hajj pilgrims, he said.
In the two-day training programme, Hajj deputationists willbe given all the information about Hajj pilgrimage, accommodation in Makkah andMadina, transport, health facilities, safety measures among others.
Flights for Haj will depart from Delhi, Gaya, Guwahati andSrinagar on July 4, from Bengaluru and Calicut on July 7, Goa on July 13,Cochin on July 14, Mangalore on July 17, Mumbai on July 14 and 21 and Srinagaron July 21.
In the second phase, flights will depart from Ahmedabad,Jaipur and Lucknow on July 20, Bhopal and Ranchi on July 21, Aurangabad on July22, Kolkata and Nagpur on July 25, Hyderabad on July 26, Varanasi on July 29and Chennai on July 31.