Government of India has announced that the Hajj application process for the pilgrimage in 2022 will be a fully online process.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi made the announcement at Haj House in south Mumbai.
All Muslims who are fully vaccinated and desirous of proceeding for Hajj next year, including women without male companions, can apply online or through the upgraded Haj Mobile App before the deadline of January 31, 2022, the minister said.
With an emphasis on ‘Vocal For Local’, Haj 2022 pilgrims will go with indigenous products, which will be bought in India.
“Earlier, Hajj pilgrims used to buy bed sheets, pillows, towels, umbrellas and other items in Saudi Arabia in foreign currency. These will be available in India at about 50 per cent lower prices compared with Saudi Arabia,” said Naqvi.
All these items will be given to Hajj pilgrims at their respective embarkation points in India, the minister told mediapersons with the Vice Consul-General of Saudi Arabia in Mumbai, Muhammed Abdul Karim Al-Enazi, Joint Secretary at the Centre Nigar Fatima and Haj Committee of India CEO Mohammed Yakoob Shekha present.
For decades, Hajj pilgrims used to buy all these items in Saudi Arabia in foreign currency, and though most products were Indian-made, they were available at twice or thrice the rates in Saudi Arabia, he pointed out.
The selection process will be as per the criteria and guidelines of both India and Saudi Arabia.
This time, the embarkation points for Haj 2022 have been slashed by half from 21 to just 10 in India, the minister said.
The embarkation points are: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar, with their respective states and other neighbouring regions in their jurisdiction.
Naqvi said that over 3,000 women without male companion had applied for the last two years’ Haj seasons which were cancelled and their applications would be valid for Haj-2022. Besides, other women can also apply fresh for Haj-2022 and all these applications under the without ‘Mehram’ category shall be exempt from the lottery system.