Ministry of
Minority Affairs, Government of India had constituted a
Committee to review the existing Haj Policy of the Government for 2013-17 and
to suggest framework for new Haj policy 2018-22. The Committee presented its
Report to the Union Minister of Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in
the presence of Secretary (Minority Affairs), Shri Ameising Luikham, Chairman
of Haj Committee of India, Shri Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, Ambassador of
India in Kingdom of SAudi Arabia Shri Ahmed Javed, other Members of HCoI and
senior officials of the Ministry of Minority Affairs in Mumbai today.
Haj
is one of the most complex organizational tasks undertaken by Government of India outside
its borders. Although a five day religious congregation, it is virtually a year–long managerial
exercise. Indian Haj pilgrims who constitute one of the largest national group
perform Haj through two streams – (i) the Haj Committee of India (HCOI), and
(ii) registered Private Tour Operators (PTOs). HCOI established under the Haj
Committee Act 2002 is responsible for making the arrangements for pilgrims
performing Haj through them. All arrangements for the HCoI pilgrims in Saudi
Arabia are coordinated by the Consulate General of India, Jeddah. The Haj quota
for India fixed by the Saudi Arabian Government was fixed at 1,36,020 after Haj
2013. In 2016, 135,902 pilgrims performed Haj out of which 99,902 went through
HCoI and 36,000 through PTOs. The Haj quota was substantially increased to 1,70,025
for Haj 2017 out of which a quota of 1,25,025 was allocated to HCoI and 45,000
to PTOs.
In terms of the Supreme
Court directions regarding Haj policies for the HCoI and PTOs, it was decided
to review the existing Policies and frame a new Policy. Accordingly, Ministry
of Minority Affairs constituted a Committee with Shri Afzal Amanullah, IAS (Retd.),
former Secretary to Govt. of India and Ex CGI, Jeddah as Convenor and Justice
S.S. Parkar, Retd. Judge of Bombay High Court, Shri Qaiser Shamim, IRS (Retd)
& former Chairman, Haj Committee of India, Shri Kamal Faruqui, noted
Chartered Accountant & Muslim Scholar as Members. Shri J. Alam, Joint
Secretary, in-charge of Haj, Ministry of Minority Affairs was the Member
Secretary of the Committee.
The Terms
of Reference of the Committee included the following;
(i)
Review the existing Haj policy
pertaining to HCoI and PTOs in the light of its objectives and achievements.
(ii)
Examine implications of various
directions of the Supreme Court with regard to the existing policy and to
suggest suitable amendments in the said policy in the light of such directions.
(iii)
Review the effectiveness of arrangements
made by HCoI for Haj pilgrims’ accommodation and air travel including
issues related with Haj subsidy.
(iv)
Examine the effectiveness of
inter-relationship and coordination in the functioning of Haj Committee of
India and CGI.
(v)
Examine the aspects of transparency,
consumer satisfaction and disclosure requirements for PTOs to protect interest
of the Haj Pilgrims with a view to make the new policy of greater assistance to
the pilgrims.
(vi)
Suggest measure for ensuring fair
competition among PTOs and enhanced value for services provided by them.
(vii) Examine
any other issues relevant to Haj policy for HCoI and PTOs.
(viii) Suggest
the framework for new Haj policy for HCoI and PTOs in the light of the above.
The
Committee started its work on 15th February, 2017 and had a number
of meetings to compile the information and finalise its report. It had
extensive consultations with all the stake holders, community leaders and
general public. It held meetings in Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi for
interaction with the Haj Committee of India and various State/ Union Territory
Haj Committees and also interacted with private tour operators and their
associations in Mumbai. The Committee met with the officials of the Ministry of
Civil Aviation and airlines engaged in the Haj air charter operations including
Air India and Saudi airlines, officials of Ministry of Shipping and Shipping
Corporation of India. The Committee invited suggestions from the general public
by publishing an advertisement in all the leading newspapers in Hindi, English
and Urdu and had personal interaction with the public and other stakeholders on
25th May, 2017 in New Delhi.
6. The
Committee visited Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in April, 2017 to see the
entire gamut of Haj arrangements undertaken by Consulate General of India
(CGI), Jeddah at various places in KSA. The Committee interacted with Consul
General and his team on the role and functions
of the Consulate and had discussion on effectiveness of inter-relationship and
coordination between HCoI and CGI. The Committee
interacted with the operational functionaries of Moassasa and officials who are
involved in Haj operation viz. representatives of Naqqaba Sayyarat, Maktabul
Wukla, Adillah Establishment, Saudi Airlines and GACA etc. The Committee also
interacted with a cross section of Indian community based in Saudi Arabia to
elicit their views. During their visit, the Committee also undertook field
visit of Makkah and Azizia where the buildings for the Indian pilgrims are
hired, Mina, Muzadalifa and Arafat and Metro Train Stations of Mashaer region.
After
extensive consultations and deliberations, the Committee finalised its
recommendations.
Major
recommendations of the Committee are as under:
Haj
Policy of the Government for Haj Committee of India
1.
Distribution of quota between HCoI and
PTOs to be rationalised in the ratio of 70:30 for the next 5 years.
2.
Seats among the States/ Union
Territories to be distributed in the ratio of their Muslim Population as well
as in proportion to the number of applications received.
3.
Quota for Mehram to be increased from
200 to 500.
4.
Special quota for Jammu & Kashmir to
be increased from 1500 to 2000.
5.
States/ UTs receiving less than 500
applications to get priority in distribution of surplus seats. This will
benefit UTs like Andaman & Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep, Dadra & Nagar
Haveli, Daman & Diu & Puducherry as well as smaller States like Chhattisgarh,
Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur.
6.
Reserved category of applicants viz. 70+
and 4th timers to be abolished.
7.
Ladies above 45 years of age to be
allowed in a group of 4 or more to go for Haj without Mehram.
8.
Only one category of accommodation in
Makkah, in Azizia and adjoining areas to be hired with new, multi storied
modern buildings with transportation facilities for the pilgrims
9.
Re-hiring arrangement to be made for
new, good and big buildings in subsequent year.
10.
All accommodation in Madinah to be hired
in Markazia only.
11.
Stay of all Indian Hajis to be ensured within
the traditional boundaries of Mina.
12.
Adahi coupons to be made compulsory for
each pilgrim.
13.
Breaking cartel of contractors with
transparent bidding process. Hiring rate to be brought down with better
negotiations.
14.
Embarkation Points (EPs) to be reduced from
21 to 9 which are (1) Delhi (2) Lucknow (3) Kolkata (4) Ahmedabad (5) Mumbai
(6) Chennai (7) Hyderabad (8) Bengaluru and (9) Cochin. Suitable Haj houses to
be built at these EPs. States/Districts to be tagged with each EP properly.
15.
Facilities created in discontinued EPs to
be used for round the year training, orientation of pilgrims and other
productive uses for the community.
16.
Saudi Government to be consulted regarding
Haj travel by ship and thereafter floating an EOI to gauge the market for such
travel.
Policy
of the Government for Private Tour Operators
17.
A robust portal to be developed for
processing of PTO applications.
18.
A committee of 2-3 experts to consider
representations of PTOs aggrieved by Haj Division’s decisions.
19.
PTOs to be categorised in three
categories in accordance with their experience and financial strength. The PTO
quota to be divided in the ratio 30:40:30 among the three categories with the
provision of allocation of seats in the ratio 200:100:50 to the individual PTOs.
20.
A comprehensive empanelment policy for
the PTOs to be formulated that would facilitate easier and quicker renewals.
Empanelment to be done on the basis of documents as well as physical inspection
of the PTOs. Stringent norms to be followed for blacklisting and forfeiture of
Security deposit of PTOs.
21.
PTOs to collect full package costs from
pilgrims through bank accounts only and render details to the Ministry before
departure of pilgrims from India.
22.
Each PTO to have a proper website with
pre decided disclosure norms.
23.
Nomenclature of PTO to be changed to Haj
Group Organiser (HGO).
Other recommendations
24.
Steering Committee to be co-chaired by
Secretary (MoMA) and Secretary (MEA) with senior officials of other concerned
Ministries to be constituted for better coordination.
25.
Two members Haj Goodwill Delegation from
India to continue.
26.
Amendment in Haj committee act to
include Umra and Ziyarat to Syria, Iran, Iraq and Jordan, removal of obsolete
provisions, inclusion of official of MoMA in the HCoI, etc.
Besides
the above, there are several other recommendations for ensuring better
coordination and accountability among various Ministries/ Agencies and to
provide better facilities to the Haj Pilgrims. After its presentation, the
report of the HPRC will be examined in the ministry and shared with all
concerned for implementation of the accepted recommendations from Haj 2018
onwards. With the implementation of these recommendations, it is hoped that
management of Haj will be further streamlined, which will help in realising the
objective of comfortable and cost effective Haj pilgrimage for Indian Pilgrims.
Kindly click here for summary of recommendations of the Report
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AK
