Mumbai, 08th Jan, 2022:

Union Minister for Minority Affairs and Deputy Leader, Rajya Sabha, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said here that precaution, prevention and prayer is must to perish the pandemic to make Haj pilgrimage possible this year. While inaugurating a two-day training of trainers programme for Haj 2022 at Haj House, Mumbai today, Shri Naqvi said that the entire Haj 2022 process has been chalked out with significant reforms and changes giving utmost priority to health and well-being of the people.

Shri Naqvi said that making the entire Haj 2022 process 100 percent digital/online will be extremely beneficial to ensure health and well-being of the people besides transparent, accessible, affordable and convenient Haj pilgrimage with pandemic precautions. 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” equipped with modern facilities. The “Haj Mobile 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 53,000 people have applied for Haj 2022 so far which include more than 1000 women who have applied under without “Mehram” category.

Shri Naqvi said that 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. Shri Naqvi said that embarkation points for Haj 2022 have been reduced from 21 to 10. For Haj 2022, the 10 embarkation points 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.

Shri Naqvi said that Digital Health Card, “E-MASIHA” health facility and “E-luggage pre-tagging”, providing all information regarding accommodation/transportation in Makkah-Madinah, will be provided to all the Haj pilgrims. Arrangements for special training for Haj 2022 regarding Corona protocols and Health and Hygiene have been made in India and Saudi Arabia for the Haj pilgrims.

Shri Naqvi said that 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.

Union Minority Affairs Ministry Joint Secretary Smt. Nigar Fatima; CGI Jeddah Shri Mohammad Shahid Alam; Haj Committee of India CEO Mohammad Yakoob Shekha and specialists from various hospitals, senior officials from airlines, customs and banking officials were present on the occasion.

This two-day training of trainers programme is being attended by 550 trainers, virtually and physically, from different states. Keeping in view the pandemic challenges, this training programme is focused on health and hygiene. Officials from Haj Committee of India; Royal Consulate of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Customs; Immigration, airlines and doctors are informing about “Do’s and Don’ts” during Haj. It includes information about transport, accommodation in Saudi Arabia and laws of Saudi Arabia. These trainers will now train the Haj pilgrims in training camps across the country.