Haj quota enhanced

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18.

Of the 1.15 lakh people who went to Haj this year, the Central Haj Committee (CHC) claims to have facilitated the pilgrimage of 70,000 Indian Muslims.

The Chairman of the CHC, Mr. Tanveer Ahmed, said though the Government of Saudi Arabia had earlier fixed a quota of 1.20 lakh people for India as per proportion of Muslim population last year, with the efforts of the CHC this quota was enhanced to 1.27 lakh. ``This would allow many of us to help more people to take the pilgrimage each year,'' Mr. Tanveer said.

Meanwhile, speaking about the new proposals that are in the pipeline to facilitate travel of Haj pilgrims for 2002, Mr. Tanveer said: ``We are trying to add Lucknow, Nagpur and Bhopal to the disembarkation list to provide more connectivity. Also, to minimise the problems faced due to lack of awareness about the rules and regulations laid down by the Government of Saudi Arabia, training camps for Haj pilgrims will be held to educate them about how to cope with their problems pertaining to travel and stay.''

Regarding the construction of Haj houses in different States, of the country, Mr. Tanveer Ahmad said during the last two years Haj houses were constructed at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad and work at Bhopal and Jaipur would begin soon. He also announced that the programme for Haj 2002 was under preparation and the Haj action plan would be announced at the Haj Conference to be held later this year.

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