Only 10 thousand for India and 24 thousand for Pakistan! Why did Mohammed bin Salman take such a decision on the Haj quota of Muslims?

India had received a quota of 1.7 lakh Haj pilgrims this year, out of which the Ministry of Minority Affairs has to make arrangements for 1,22,518 pilgrims and the private operators are responsible for making arrangements for 52,507.

On the one hand, Saudi Arabia has reduced the quota of Indian Muslims in the private Haj scheme by 80 percent and now only 10 thousand will be able to go on the pilgrimage. On the other hand, about 24 thousand Pakistani Muslims will be able to take advantage of this. About 42 thousand Indian Muslims have been affected by this step of the Saudi Arabian government.

 

According to a report by Pakistani news channel Sama TV, the spokesperson of the Pak Ministry said that this year only 23,620 people will be able to go for the pilgrimage under the Private Haj Scheme and the service providers should stay on the Pak Haj App so that they can be informed about every update. He said that all the companies should keep sharing all the updates related to Haj with the Haj pilgrims. The ministry said that all the operators should complete all the processes related to the issuance of visas to the Haj pilgrims by April 18 as the Saudi Arabian government has strict instructions regarding this.

 

India had received a quota of 1,75,025 pilgrims for Haj this year, out of which the Ministry of Minority Affairs was responsible for arranging for 1,22,518 pilgrims through the Haj Committee, while a quota of 52,507 pilgrims was allotted to private operators. This year the government has merged more than 800 private tour operators with 26 legal entities called Combined Haj Group Operators (CHGO).

CHGO was given a quota of 52,507 passengers, whose every arrangement had to be taken care of by these groups. The ministry had allotted the quota to CHGO much earlier. The government says that despite reminders, CHGO failed to meet the required deadline of Saudi Arabia, due to which this problem has arisen for 42 thousand passengers. 

 

CHGO has to make necessary arrangements for the pilgrims including transport, accommodation and camps. The government said that due to the delay, there is no space available in Mina. However, seeing the concern of the people, the government talked to the Saudi Haj Ministry and they have agreed to reopen the Haj portal, Nusuk, for CHGO. However, CHGO will be able to complete its work on Nusuk only for 10 thousand pilgrims. Saudi Arabia has cancelled the Mina zone for private tour operators of India. Mina is a tent city near Mecca, where pilgrims stay for four days during Haj and perform rituals related to the journey.