‘Hajj flights from Srinagar to depart on July 4’

A record 2 lakh Indian pilgrims will perform Hajj this year with more than 48 per cent of them being women, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Tuesday.

More than 2,340 women will perform Haj 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 Haj as”their waiting lists have been cleared due to increase in Haj quota”,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 HajCommittee 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 Madinahave been established to ensure proper health facilities to Haj pilgrims, hesaid.

In the two-day training programme, Haj deputationists willbe given all the information about Haj pilgrimage, accommodation in Makkah andMadina, transport, health facilities, safety measures among others.

Flights for Haj will depart from Delhi, Gaya, Guwahati and Srinagaron July 4, from Bengaluru and Calicut on July 7, Goa on July 13, Cochin on July14, Mangalore on July 17, Mumbai on July 14 and 21 and Srinagar on July 21. In the second phase, flights will depart fromAhmedabad, Jaipur and Lucknow on July 20, Bhopal and Ranchi on July 21,Aurangabad on July 22, Kolkata and Nagpur on July 25, Hyderabad on July 26,Varanasi on July 29 and Chennai on July 31.

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