Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — India's Junior Foreign Minister E. Ahamed said Monday the elaborate arrangements made by Saudi Arabia under the leadership of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, were exemplary. “This year's Haj has been as successful for all of India's pilgrims as for all others coming from other parts of the world,” said Ahamed, who represented India during the reception King Abdullah gave to Muslim leaders and heads of Haj missions at his palace in Mina on Saturday. As many as 169,971 Indian pilgrims performed the annual pilgrimage this time. They included 125,071 who came through the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) and the rest (44,900) transported by private tour operators. “The Indian Haj mission will be giving a presentation to the Ministry of Haj on the management of its pilgrims in due course,” said Ahamed, who had a meeting with Minister of Haj Dr. Bandar Hajjar. He added that the HCOI had a two-day meeting on the eve of the Haj season discussing the various modalities of Haj management. The return phase of the pilgrims from Jeddah will commence on Thursday (Nov. 1) and will continue till Nov. 29, and from Madinah it will be from Nov. 11 to Dec. 1, the minister said. “This time there has been a drop in the number of deaths among Indian pilgrims,” Ahamed said. There have been 109 deaths during the period until Monday as against 121 last year, said Ahamed. “Till date, two births took place — one in Makkah and the other in Madinah,” he said. The minister, who has been retained as the minister of state for foreign affairs in Sunday's Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao and Consul General Faiz Ahmad Kidwai as well as other officers and staff members played a key role in the effective management of pilgrims during their movements in the holy sites. The minister added that the assistance provided additionally by 536 staff on deputation from New Delhi and around 300 locally recruited staff, as well as volunteers from different welfare and service organizations were of great help in the smooth movement of pilgrims. “That's how we could effectively tackle the 622 cases of missing money and baggage of pilgrims,” he said, adding that the number of missing pilgrims had come down this year to 397 as against 446 during the last year's Haj. During the pilgrimage from 7th to 13th Dul Hijjah, an office was set up at the Mina Embassy Camp, which handled missing pilgrims, movement of pilgrims in the Mashair region, medical assistance and death cases. For the first time, Indian pilgrims were among many others from various countries to experience rail travel from Mina to Arafat, Arafat to Muzdalifah and Muzdalifah to Mina. Some 500,000 pilgrims were given this facility, of whom 320,000 were from India and other South Asian countries and remaining from the Kingdom, Turkey and GCC countries. Listing the Haj mission's arrangements, he said, besides the main Haj offices in Makkah and Madinah, 13 and five branch offices are in operation in Makkah and Madinah respectively. New facilities introduced during this Haj include provision of SIM cards to all pilgrims at the embarkation points in India; two new 100 percent cotton bedsheets and two pillow covers given to each pilgrim, aside from bucket, mug disinfectant and toilet brush in each bathroom, and air freshener, broom-brush and pan in each bedroom. Free refilling of gas cylinders up to two times in every kitchen was also done. Also, an online complaint registration and redressal system was introduced. The minister said in all 479 buildings consisting of 25,075 rooms were hired to accommodate all the HCOI pilgrims. In Green category (up to 1,500 meters from the outermost periphery of the Holy Haram) 59,736 pilgrims were given accommodation in 265 buildings while in Azizia (about 7 km from Haram) 64,131 pilgrims were housed in 214 buildings. Some 1,204 others stayed in Rubats. Asked for his comment on the Cabinet reshuffle in which he remains the minister of state for foreign affairs but lost the human resources development portfolio, the minister said: “The prime minister knows and has done the best (in the given circumstances).”
