By IANS
Hyderabad : The first batch of 300 Haj pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh Monday left for the holy city of Madina in Saudi Arabia.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed flagged off the batch at Haj House in Nampally in the heart of the city. All the travel formalities are being completed at the Haj House.
Hundreds of relatives bid a tearful adieu to their near and dear ones.
The first batch, which left by Saudi Airlines flight, includes 142 men and 158 women. Three children including a month-old baby were among the pilgrims.
According to Andhra Pradesh State Haj Committee, 6,820 pilgrims from the state would perform Haj this year through the committee. They will be among more than 157,000 Indians going for Haj.
Earlier, Ahamed said he would look into the state government’s demand for increasing the quota for the state. The minister said such demands were received from many states and it was difficult to satisfy all.
The Saudi Airlines will operate daily flights from here to Madina till Nov 22. The return schedule is from Dec 26 to Jan 5.