Mumbai, 18th June, 2022:

Union Minister for Minority Affairs & Deputy Leader, Rajya Sabha, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said here that Haj pilgrims of India should pray for the peace and prosperity of the entire world and that the humanity be remain safe from all kinds of crisis.Shri Naqvi said this today while flagging off the first batch of Haj 2022 pilgrims, going from Mumbai Embarkation Point, from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai. He also extended his best wishes to them for their successful pilgrimage.

A total of 410 Haj pilgrims are going in the first batch from Mumbai Embarkation point. These include 207 male and 203 women Haj pilgrims. About 8000 Haj pilgrims will go to Haj 2022 from Mumbai Embarkation point through 19 flights. Shri Naqvi said that the flights for Haj 2022 have been started from 4th June. For Haj 2022, the pilgrims are going through Haj Committee of India from 10 embarkation points- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar.

Shri Naqvi said that Haj 2022 is going on successfully with significant reforms, 100 per cent digital/online process and better facilities to the pilgrims. Shri Naqvi said that after two years, several online/digital facilities including Digital Health Card, “E-MASIHA” health facility and “E-luggage pre-tagging”, providing all information regarding accommodation/transportation in Makkah-Madinah to the pilgrims in India itself, has been provided to all the Haj pilgrims.

Shri Naqvi said that 79,237 Indian Muslims are going for Haj 2022, these include about 50 per cent women. Out of these, 56,601 Indian Muslims are going through Haj Committee of India and 22,636 Muslims through Haj Group Organisers (HGOs). The entire process of HGOs has also been made transparent and online. More than 1800 Muslim women are going for Haj 2022 without “Mehram” (male companion), these women are going to Haj without lottery system.

Shri Naqvi said that Haj pilgrims of Gujarat are going from Ahmedabad embarkation point; besides Haj pilgrims are going from Bengaluru embarkation point (pilgrims of Karnataka and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh), Cochin embarkation point (pilgrims of Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Andaman & Nicobar), Delhi embarkation point (pilgrims of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, western districts of Uttar Pradesh), Guwahati embarkation point (pilgrims of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Nagaland), Hyderabad embarkation point (pilgrims of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Kolkata embarkation point (pilgrims of West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura, Jharkhand and Bihar), Lucknow embarkation point (pilgrims of Uttar Pradesh except western parts), Mumbai embarkation point (pilgrims of Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Srinagar embarkation point (pilgrims of Jammu-Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh-Kargil).

The following number of Indian Muslims are going to Haj 2022 from different states through Haj Committee of India. Andaman & Nicobar Islands- 114; Andhra Pradesh- 1201; Assam- 3544; Bihar- 2210; Chandigarh- 25; Chhattisgarh- 431; Dadra and Nagar Haveli- 17; Daman & Diu- 17; Delhi- 835; Goa- 67; Gujarat- 2533; Himachal Pradesh- 38; Haryana- 617; Jammu-Kashmir- 5281; Jharkhand- 1559; Karnataka- 2764; Kerala- 5274; Lakshdweep- 159; Madhya Pradesh- 1780; Maharashtra- 4874; Manipur- 335; Odisha- 466; Puducherry- 52; Punjab- 218; Rajasthan- 2072; Tamil Nadu- 1498; Tripura- 108; Uttar Pradesh- 8701; Uttarakhand- 485; West Bengal- 5911; Telangana- 1822 and Ladakh- 216.

Royal Consul General of Saudi Arabia In Mumbai, H.E. Mr. Sulaiman Bin Eid Alotaibi; Haj Committee of India Chairman Shri A.P. Abdullakutty; Haj Committee of India CEO Mohd Yakoob Shekha and other senior officials were present on the occasion.