As the Saudi Arabian government has increased India’s Hajj quota by about 25,000 pilgrims, Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get more than 1000 additional seats this year.
Now, 2 lakh Indian citizens can perform Hajj. The increasein Hajj seats followed talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudicrown prince Mohammed Bin R Salman last month in New Delhi.
The additional 25000 will be divided according to thepopulation ratio among state Hajj committees. Besides, according to SupremeCourt guidelines, a portion of these additional seats will be also distributedamong private Hajj tour operators across India.
Executive officer J&K Hajj Committee Abdul Salam Mirsaid people of the state would be informed about the additional seats in mediaonce the Hajj Committee of India gives the green signal.
The Hajj Committee of India has already announced increasein quota of private hajj tour operators by 5000 seats, taking their total quotato 50,000.
President Jammu and KashmirHajj and Umrah Companies Operators Association Sheikh Feroz said that atpresent five operators are eligible to undertake pilgrims for Hajj.
“But in coming days we will get to know if any otheroperator is selected,” he said.
The State Hajj Committee held the draw of lots on Tuesdayand finalised the list of 9762 pilgrims scheduled to perform Hajj this year.
Also, the government of India has slashed Goods and ServicesTax (GST) on Hajj pilgrimage from 18 percent to 5 percent, and it will ensuresavings of Rs 113 crore.
The reduction will bring the airfare down for pilgrimsembarking from Srinagar by Rs 11,377.
Meanwhile, not a single woman from Jammu and Kashmir hasapplied to undertake Hajj without ‘mehram’ since the special category wasintroduced by the Modi government a year ago, according to official figures.