About two lakh pilgrims from India are set to perform Hajj this year and accordingly efforts are being put to organize the required manpower for the biggest man management exercise undertaken by India outside its border, officials said.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs will depute 638 officials to the Consulate General of India in Jeddah while the Consulate General will engage an equal number of personnel temporarily.
With Saudi Arabia increasing India’s Hajj quota by 25,000, the highest ever number of Indians will perform Hajj this year. This number will be next only to Indonesia’s 2.31 lakh including an increase of 10,000 this year.
Saudi Arabia on April 18 issued formal orders after which the Minority Affairs Ministry began arranging necessary manpower.
The Ministry has decided that out of the additional 25,000 quotas, 15,000 will be allotted to Hajj Committee of India (HCOI) and 10,000 to Private Tour Operators (PTOs). Thus, 1.40 lakh pilgrims are expected to come through HCOI and 60,000 through PTOs, India’s newly appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed told IANS.
The number of deputationists includes coordinators (7), doctors (168), Assistant Hajj Officers (62), paramedics (185) and Hajj Assistants (216).
The Ministry’s Hajj Division is conducting the selection/interview process to select the officials working in the central government, state governments, union territory administrations, central and state public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies.
The period of deputation is normally 2-3 months to render administrative and medical assistance to Indian Hajj pilgrims.
Hajj 2019 season will be from July 4 to September 14, 2019. The core Hajj period will be from August 8 to 14 when millions of Muslims from around the world perform Hajj rituals in Mecca and nearby holy sites.
Officials in Hajj Committee said that with the increase in Hajj quota this year, all the applicants from states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Tripura will go on Hajj.
