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Mumbai:
Though the final figure will become clear in a day or two, Haj
Committee of India on Saturday claimed that it had received more
than 3 lakh applications from the people willing to go for Haj
this year.
"The Haj Committee of India has
received an estimated 3,11,000 applications for the Haj 2012 from
all across the country", said an official statement released
yesterday.
The last date for receiving the Haj
applications was April 25.
This year's estimate as claimed by
the Haj Committee is an increase of more than nine thousands as
compared to the last year. Last year, the Haj Committee had
received a total of 3,2,616 applications.
The Haj Committee has also directed
all the regional offices in Haj Committee offices in various
states to complete the data entry as soon as possible so that the
final figure can be estimated.
Another important factor claimed by
the Haj Committee is the ready passport it has received with the
Haj applications. As compared to last year when only 1,80,000 out
of the total 3,2,616 had ready passports, this year all applicants
have submitted their passports along with the applications.
Earlier, the special passports were
issued to the people going for Haj. The government, however,
changed the rule three years back and made it compulsory for Hajis
to have international passport.
In 2011, India was allocated a quota of 170,491 for Haj. Out of
this 118,239 seats were allocated to Haj Committee and 45,491 to
private tour operators. Rest were retained by the government of
India.
This year, looking at the
observations made by the Supreme Court about VIP Haj quota, number
of Hajis going through Haj Committee may see further increase.
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