A record 2 lakh Indian pilgrims will perform Haj this year with more than 48 per cent of them being women, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday. More than 2,340 women will perform Haj without “Mehram” (male companion) this year, the Union Minister said adding last year, this number stood at 1,180. In a first, all applicants from several states, including Uttar 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 number of 2 lakh Indian Muslims will go to Haj this year without any subsidy on more than 500 flights and from 21 embarkation points across the country,” Naqvi said adding 48 per cent of them are women. “While 1.40 lakh pilgrims will go through the Haj Committee 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 Madina have been established to ensure proper health facilities to Haj pilgrims, he said. In the two-day training programme, Haj deputationists will be given all the information about Haj pilgrimage, accommodation in Makkah and Madina, transport, health facilities, safety measures among others.
