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Despite Saudi Arabia’s decision to resume the Haj pilgrimage this year, after a two-year hiatus owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gujarat Haj Committee has received significantly fewer applications from persons willing to undertake the pilgrimage this year.
Salman Mansuri, coordinator (information technology) of the Gujarat State Haj Committee said the committee has so far received approximately 7,200 applications this year, compared to the nearly 33,000 it had received in 2019. Mansuri said the decrease could perhaps be attributed to “Covid-19 and the financial condition” of pilgrims.
In April, Saudi Arabia had announced that it would permit 10 lakh Muslims – domestic and international – to participate in the pilgrimage this year. In 2019, nearly 25 lakh pilgrims had been permitted. The reduced limit comes in light of prevailing Covid restrictions worldwide, along with the Arab kingdom’s criteria of permitting the pilgrimage only for fully vaccinated Muslims under the age of 65.
Meanwhile, with a decline in the permissible number of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, the country-wise allocation has reduced, which in turn has reduced state-wise allocation within India. The All-India quota for sending Haj pilgrims from across the country has thus been brought down from nearly two lakh in 2019 to 79,000 this year.
In 2019, nearly 8,200 pilgrims were permitted to undertake Haj from Gujarat, selected from the approximately 33,000 applications it had received for the same. This year, Mansuri said, a little over 3,000 pilgrims from the state can make it for Haj.
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