Naqvi: More than 2,300 women to go on Haj this year without 'Mehram'

New Delhi, Jan 16 Over 2,300 Muslim ladies from India will go on Haj this year without 'Mehram' or male companion as all those who applied under this category have been exempted from the lottery framework, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Wednesday.

The Modi government had last year allowed women going to Haj without Mehram, which had brought about around 1,300 Muslim ladies going for the journey with no male partner. They had been exempted from the lottery system.

Naqvi, while initiating the new office space of Haj Division at RK Puram here, said that out of the blue after the Independence, 2,340 Muslim ladies have connected to go on Haj 2019 without Mehram.

This year as well, on the headings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minority Affairs Ministry has made game plan to send these ladies on Haj without the lottery framework, he was cited as saying in an announcement discharged from his office.

Women from all states are among the 2,340 that have applied to go on Haj 2019 without Mehram.

In excess of 2,67,000 applications had been gotten for Haj this year out of which 1,64,902 applications have been submitted on the web, Naqvi said.

A lottery is conducted to choose the pilgrims as there is a fixed quota allotted by Saudi Arabia for the yearly pilgrimage.

A record number of 1,75,025 Muslims, including around 48 percent ladies, from India performed Haj in 2018 and that too with no subsidy, Naqvi said.

With the Goods and Services Tax on Haj pilgrimage reduced from 18 percent to 5 percent, about Rs 113 crore will be spared by Haj pilgrims this year, he said.

Reduction in GST on Haj pilgrimage will guarantee significant decrease in air fare from different embarkation points.

Naqvi said that creation the Haj procedure advanced has helped in making it straightforward and master travelers.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs, in collaboration with Saudi Arabia Haj Consulate, Haj Committee of India and different organizations concerned, has finished arrangements for the pilgrimage three months before timetable to guarantee that the pilgrimage is more comfortable for the pilgrims.