So far 88 women want to go to Haj without Mehram

New Delhi, Nov 21: So far, 88 women have filed applications to go for Haj without Mehram, with most coming from Kerala.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas told mediapersons here on Tuesday , "Twentytwo groups of four women each have applied for Haj-2018 under the non-Mehram category".

The Minister said that 72 women pilgrims have applied from Kerala, eight from Uttar Pradesh and four each from Assam and West Bengal. 

Mr Naqvi said the government will ensure full safety and security to the women Haj pilgrims going without Mehram.

The Minister said the government was happy for the number of women applicants coming up without Mehram but the decision to allow depends on the sect concerned.

He said Haj 2018 will be performed according to the new Haj Policy. The high-level committee, constituted to frame the new policy, has already submitted its report and Minority Affairs Ministry has been looking into its recommendations and positive discussion is going on.

The Minister also warned of black listing all those Private Tour Operators (PTO) who were found violating guidelines.

He said so far three such operators have been identified and the process of black listing has started.

Mr Naqvi said Haj 2017 was very successful and smooth as the Centre had completed all the necessary preparations well before time in cooperation and coordination with agencies concerned.

Stating that the 21 embarkation points will continue, the Minister said the Haj application form for 2018 also contains the embarkation points-wise detailed air fare comparison which will be beneficial for the pilgrims as for the first time they will get option for embarkation points of their own choice.

Giving example, Mr Naqvi said, Haj airfare per pilgrim from Srinagar is Rs 1,09,692 while from Delhi it is Rs 73,697. So the pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir can opt for Delhi embarkation point.             

Similarly, from Guwahati is Rs 1,15,646 per pilgrim while it is Rs 83,027 from Kolkata. So, pilgrims from Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim can opt for Kolkata.

He said this time the Central Government had announced Haj process three months before and this will provide enough opportunities for all the agencies concerned to make preparations well in advance so that world class facilities to the Haj pilgrims were ensured. UNI