By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: The enrollment of the new pilgrims for Hajj of 1430 Hijri to be held in the year 2009 has started with the distribution of registration forms commencing from Thursday morning. From this year only the pilgrims selected after Qurrah (lottery) will have to do the formalities including deposit but the international passport may prove to be a great trouble for them.
The application forms being distributed free of cost will require a non refundable Pay-in-Slip issued by any branch of State Bank of India worth Rs. 200/- per pilgrim in Current Account No. 30683623887, when being submitted. All the other things will be required only if the applicant is selected after Qurrah.
The Qurrah on a date fixed by the Haj Committee of India will follow the closing date of application forms submission March 31, 2009.
Abbas A Mukadam, deputy chief executive officer of Haj Committee of India said now the pilgrims who are not selected will not have to go through medical checks, vaccination and deposit of expenditures etc.
But on the other hand the necessary international passport has created trouble for pilgrims as it is difficult to get especially for those living in remote areas of India. Though the Haj Committee of India and several other Muslim organizations have asked from the Saudi government that pilgrims be allowed to perform Haj by the ‘pilgrim passport’ as earlier but it did not avail.
‘We have asked the Saudi government to give us respite for two or three years but so far it is silent. If Saudi government does not accept the Indian government will open special counters in passport office to ensure the easy availability of passports for the pilgrims,’ told Mukadam.
However, on the other hand 103 persons out of 1800 who were not selected in Qurrah in 2008 but had deposited 10,700 along with the application forms, are yet to be refunded. Abbas told that their money will be sent back within two weeks. ‘We sent the cheques to all the 1800 but due to some fault in the postal address 103 cheques came back. We are trying to know their correct address through possible means including contact numbers and after 10-12 days they will get refunded.’
Moreover, 94 articles weighing 2,035 kg are still held up at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). It is excess baggage belonging to around 50 to 60 Hajis who landed at CSIA from Saudi Arabia.
Almost every year the state Haj committee would pay charges for the excess baggage but this year trying to send a strong message to those not adhering the baggage restrictions; it has decided to not pay for that.
While the Haj Committee of India says it has informed the pilgrims about it in advance but some of them say they had no idea that charges for excess baggage will be born by them. It should be noticed that every pilgrim, apart from1 handbag and 10 kg of zamzam water, is allowed to carry only 45 kg baggage.
Link:
http://hajcommittee.com/