Jeddah:
Indian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs E. Ahmed said on
Monday that the elaborate arrangements made by Saudi Arabia under
the leadership of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques, were exemplary.
“This year’s Haj has been as successful for all of India’s
pilgrims as for all others coming from other parts of the world,”
said Ahmed, who represented India during the reception King
Abdullah gave to Muslim leaders and heads of Haj missions at his
palace in Mina on Saturday.
As many as 169,971 Indian pilgrims
performed the annual pilgrimage this time. They included 125,071
who came through the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) and the rest
(44,900) transported by private tour operators.
“The Indian Haj mission will be giving a presentation to the
Ministry of Haj on the management of its pilgrims in due course,”
said Ahmed, who had a meeting with Minister of Haj Dr. Bandar
Hajjar.
He added that the HCOI had a two-day
meeting on the eve of the Haj season discussing the various
modalities of Haj management.
The return phase of the pilgrims
from Jeddah will commence on Thursday (Nov. 1) and will continue
till Nov. 29, and from Madinah it will be from Nov. 11 to Dec. 1,
the minister said.
“This time there has been a drop in
the number of deaths among Indian pilgrims,” Ahmed said.
There have been 109 deaths during the period until Monday as
against 121 last year, said Ahmed.
“Till date, two births took place —
one in Makkah and the other in Madinah,” he said.
The minister, who has been retained
as the minister of state for foreign affairs in Sunday’s Cabinet
reshuffle by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said Ambassador Hamid
Ali Rao and Consul General Faiz Ahmad Kidwai as well as other
officers and staff members played a key role in the effective
management of pilgrims during their movements in the holy sites.
The minister added that the
assistance provided additionally by 536 staff on deputation from
New Delhi and around 300 locally recruited staff, as well as
volunteers from different welfare and service organizations were
of great help in the smooth movement of pilgrims.
“That’s how we could effectively
tackle the 622 cases of missing money and baggage of pilgrims,” he
said, adding that the number of missing pilgrims had come down
this year to 397 as against 446 during the last year’s Haj.
During the pilgrimage from 7th to 13th Dul Hijjah, an office was
set up at the Mina Embassy Camp, which handled missing pilgrims,
movement of pilgrims in the Mashair region, medical assistance and
death cases.
For the first time, Indian pilgrims
were among many others from various countries to experience rail
travel from Mina to Arafat, Arafat to Muzdalifah and Muzdalifah to
Mina.
Some 500,000 pilgrims were given
this facility, of whom 320,000 were from India and other South
Asian countries and remaining from the Kingdom, Turkey and GCC
countries.
Listing the Haj mission’s
arrangements, he said, besides the main Haj offices in Makkah and
Madinah, 13 and five branch offices are in operation in Makkah and
Madinah respectively.
New facilities introduced during this Haj include provision of SIM
cards to all pilgrims at the embarkation points in India; two new
100 percent cotton bedsheets and two pillow covers given to each
pilgrim, aside from bucket, mug disinfectant and toilet brush in
each bathroom, and air freshener, broom-brush and pan in each
bedroom. Free refilling of gas cylinders up to two times in every
kitchen was also done.
Also, an online complaint
registration and redressal system was introduced. The minister
said in all 479 buildings consisting of 25,075 rooms were hired to
accommodate all the HCOI pilgrims.
In Green category (up to 1,500
meters from the outermost periphery of the Holy Haram) 59,736
pilgrims were given accommodation in 265 buildings while in Azizia
(about 7 km from Haram) 64,131 pilgrims were housed in 214
buildings. Some 1,204 others stayed in Rubats.
Asked for his comment on the Cabinet
reshuffle in which he remains the minister of state for foreign
affairs but lost the human resources development portfolio, the
minister said: “The prime minister knows and has done the best (in
the given circumstances)."
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