Mumbai, 25th Nov, 2021:

Union Minister for Minority Affairs and Deputy Leader, Rajya Sabha, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said here that various important and significant reforms in the entire Haj pilgrimage process during the last 7 years have made the Haj pilgrimage more comfortable and convenient for the Indian Haj pilgrims.

After a meeting with senior officials of Haj Committee of India and representatives of Haj Group Organisers regarding preparations for the Haj 2022 at Haj House in Mumbai today, Shri Naqvi said that effective and far-sighted reforms such as abolition of Haj subsidy, lifting restriction on Muslim women going for Haj without “Mehram” (male companion), 100 per cent digital/online Haj process have ensured “Ease of Doing Haj” for the Indian Muslims.

Shri Naqvi said that facilities such as Haj Committee of India portal; portal for Haj Group Organisers containing all the details of HGOs and their packages etc; Digital Health Card; “E-MASIHA” health facility; “E-luggage pre-tagging” providing all information regarding accommodation/transportation in Makkah-Madinah and “Haj Mobile App” equipped with modern facilities have ensured transparent, affordable and comfortable Haj for the Indian pilgrims.

Shri Naqvi said that the entire Haj 2022 process will be 100 percent digital/online. India sends the second largest number of Haj pilgrims after Indonesia.Shri Naqvi said that the selection process of Haj pilgrims will be done according to complete vaccination with both the doses and guidelines and criteria to be decided by Indian and Saudi Arabia Governments, keeping in view Corona protocols during the time of Haj 2022.

The Haj application process has been started from 01st November. The last date of applying for Haj 2022 is 31st January, 2022. The people are applying for Haj, online and also through “Haj Mobile App”. This app has been upgraded with the tagline “Haj App in Your Hand”. The app contains several new features which include frequently asked questions, information to fill up the application form, videos giving information to applicants to fill up the form in a very simple manner.

More than 20,000 people have applied yet for Haj 2022 which include 90 women who have applied for Haj in without “Mehram” category. Earlier, more than 3000 women had applied for Haj 2020 and 2021 under without “Mehram” (male companion) category. Their applications will be eligible for Haj 2022 also if they want to go to perform Haj 2022. Other women can also apply for Haj 2022 under without “Mehram” category. All the women under without “Mehram” category will be exempted from the lottery system.

Shri Naqvi said that there will be 10 embarkation points for Haj 2022 instead of 21 earlier. The 10 embarkation points for Haj 2022 are- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar. Ahmedabad embarkation point will cover entire Gujarat. Bengaluru embarkation point will cover entire Karnataka and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Cochin embarkation point will cover Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Andaman & Nicobar.

Delhi embarkation point will cover Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, western districts of Uttar Pradesh. Guwahati embarkation point will cover Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Nagaland. Hyderabad embarkation point will cover Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Kolkata embarkation point will cover West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Lucknow embarkation point will cover all parts of Uttar Pradesh except western parts; Mumbai embarkation point will cover Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Srinagar embarkation point will cover Jammu-Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh-Kargil.