New Delhi: A combination of factors including age limitations, increased cost, and the fear of contracting coronavirus, has led to a rather low number of applicants for Haj 2021 from India till now, officials of various State Haj Committees told ETV Bharat on Saturday.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Mohsin Ali, deputy executive officer, Delhi State Haj Committee, said, "Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of Haj applicants is lesser than previous years and as of now around 450-500 pilgrims have applied on the Haj website from here."
"Another reason for the low number of applications for Haj 2021 is the increased prices. The last date for applying for Haj 2021 is December 10, 2020 and till then we might see more number of pilgrims" he added.
"In Uttar Pradesh, as of now approximately 2,000 pilgrims have applied online for the Haj," said Rahul Gupta, Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Haj Committee.
As per the guidelines issued by the Haj Committee of India (HCI), those applicants who have not completed 18 years of age and who have completed 65 years of age on or before November 7, 2020, cannot apply.
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Due to the changed Action Plan 2021 by the HCI keeping the Covid-19 pandemic situation in mind, the Haj pilgrims have to deposit Rs 1.5 lakhs of the instalment instead of Rs 81,000 as earlier.
According to HCI guidelines, the total expected expenditure for Haj 2021 will be around Rs 3,70,000 - 5,25,000. This time Haj will be costly due to change in accommodation criteria from four sq mt per Haji to nine sq mtr per Haji, increase in VAT from 5 per cent to 15 per cent by the Saudi government, 'Visa fees @ SAR 300' which was not being charged earlier. Further, the transportation cost is also likely to be enhanced by three times due to the reduced number of pilgrims in each bus.
"The quota for Haj 2021 hasn't been decided yet, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will go to Saudi Arabia by December end for the signing of Annual Bilateral Agreement," said an official on the condition of anonymity.
"India has a quota of two lakh Haj pilgrims but due to restrictions imposed on travel amid pandemic, the number of pilgrims who will be allowed to travel for Haj 2021 will be around 50,000 only," he added.
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After the consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, HCI has also decided to reduce the number of Haj embarkation points to 10, earlier there were 21 Haj embarkation points across the country.
The 10 embarkation points for Haj 2021 pilgrims will be Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar.
