The last date for submission of application forms for Haj 2021 has been extended up to Jan. 10, 2021, and the estimated cost per Haj pilgrim has also been reduced, based on embarkation point, said Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, after a meeting of Haj Committee of India at Haj House, Mumbai, on Thursday.
Earlier, Dec. 10, 2020 was supposed to be the last date for submission of application forms for Haj 2021 and so far, more than 40,000 applications have been received for Haj 2021, including more than 500 applications under women without "Mehram" category, he said.
More than 2,100 women had applied for Haj 2020 under 'without "Mehram" (male companion)' category. These women will go to Haj 2021 as their application for Haj 2020 is valid for Haj 2021 as well. Besides, new forms are being accepted from the women, who want to perform Haj 2021 without "Mehram". All the women under "without Mehram" category will be exempted from the lottery system. Currently, people are applying online, offline and through Haj Mobile App.
Naqvi said that after thorough discussions according to Embarkation Points and feedback received from Saudi Arabia, the Embarkation Points-wise estimated cost per Haj pilgrim has been reduced.
Hajj pilgrimage 2021 cost comes down
The new cost per Haj pilgrim after reduction is approximately Rs. 3,30,000 for Ahmedabad and Mumbai Embarkation points; approximately Rs 3,50,000 for Bengaluru, Lucknow, Delhi and Hyderabad Embarkation Points; approximately Rs 3,60,000 for Cochin and Srinagar Embarkation Points; approximately Rs 3,70,000 for Kolkata Embarkation Point and approximately Rs 4 lakh for Guwahati Embarkation Point.
Naqvi said that national-international Protocol Guidelines due to Pandemic Position will be implemented and followed strictly during the Haj 2021, which is scheduled for June-July, 2021 and the entire Haj process is being held according to the guidelines issued by Saudi Arabia in view of Corona pandemic to ensure health safety.
The Haj 2021 process has been chalked out after deliberations among the Union Ministries of Minority Affairs, Health, External Affairs, Civil Aviation; Haj Committee of India, Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and India's Consul General in Jeddah and other agencies keeping in view all aspects of the pandemic challenges, said the minister.
Each pilgrim will have to undergo Corona test 72 hours before Haj journey and have to submit a PCR test certificate issued by approved laboratory with a negative result before journey to Saudi Arabia. The embarkation points for Haj 2021 have been reduced to 10 from 21earlier and they are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar.
10 Embarkation Points
Ahmedabad embarkation point will cover entire Gujarat; Bengaluru will cover entire Karnataka; Cochin (Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Andaman & Nicobar); Delhi (Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh; Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, western districts of Uttar Pradesh); Srinagar embarkation point will cover Jammu-Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh-Kargil.
Guwahati will cover Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland; Kolkata (West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura, Jharkhand, Bihar); Lucknow (all parts of Uttar Pradesh except western parts), while Mumbai will cover (Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli).
