JEDDAH — India's Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed has asked Saudi civil aviation authorities to overturn their decision to reduce the quantity of Zamzam water allotted for each Haj pilgrim from 10 to five liters. Addressing a press conference at the Indian Consulate on Wednesday, he said: “We have received an intimation to cut the Zamzam quantity from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). “I have raised this matter seriously in today's meeting with Saudi Minister of Haj Bandar Hajjar.” Ahamed arrived in Jeddah to review the final preparations that have been made for Indian Haj pilgrims, who will start arriving on Sept. 7. Indian Consul General Faiz Ahmed Kidwai and Haj Consul Sheikh Muhammad Noor Rahman also attended the press conference. Ahamed said reducing the quantity of Zamzam is a violation of the agreement signed by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation with GACA. “I drew Hajjar's attention to this issue and he assured me that he will discuss the matter with the top officials of GACA and take necessary steps to honor the bilateral agreement.” The Indian minister said his talks with Hajjar were “positive”. Hajjar appreciated the arrangements made by the Indian authorities to enable their pilgrims to come and perform the annual pilgrimage in ease and comfort. “Another major issue raised with the minister was allowing Mashair train facilities for all Indian pilgrims, and he has agreed that most of the Indian pilgrims will be provided with the train facilities.” The Saudi authorities also agreed to Indian demands to continue allowing volunteers from the Kingdom to serve pilgrims at Mashair train stations, he said. Ahamed appealed to all Indian expatriates to adhere to the Saudi directive not to perform Haj illegally. “Hajjar emphasized that any domestic pilgrim caught performing Haj without a permit will be deported and given a 10-year ban,” he said. The minister said that there has been a decrease in the subsidy given to pilgrims for their air tickets. “Last year, pilgrims had to pay 20,000 rupees for each ticket but this year it was hiked to 28,000 due to the cut in subsidies.” Ahamed said he visited Makkah on Tuesday and inspected housing and health arrangements made for the pilgrims. He expressed satisfaction over the overall preparations and arrangements. Replying to a question from Saudi Gazette about the imposition of a service tax for private Haj tour operators, Ahamed said this could be part of restrictions on private operators and the government is always encouraging pilgrims to perform Haj under the Central Haj Committee (CHC). “Such a tax will never be imposed on CHC pilgrims and the government is keen to ensure that the private operators are providing the promised services to the pilgrims,” he said. Referring to alleged exploitation of pilgrims by some private tour operators, Kidwai said operators should honor their agreement and those that violate the regulations will be blacklisted. Kidwai claimed that there has been a substantial improvement in the arrangements and services made for the pilgrims this year. Last year, there were 5,000 pilgrims under each of the 25 muallims. This year there are 34 muallims and there are only 3,500 pilgrims under each of them. There have also been better arrangements made for the transportation of pilgrims from their accommodation in Makkah's Aziziyah district by providing higher quality buses. Three tunnels will be used to transport pilgrims between Makkah and Aziziyah instead of two last year, he said, adding that the pilgrims have to pay a total of SR130 (SR10 up from last year) for using the shuttle bus service. Kidwai also unveiled plans to hand over catering for pilgrims to private companies in the future. “We are trying to introduce catering services in Madinah some time this year or most probably next year,” he said. A total of 136,020 Indian pilgrims will be performing Haj this year. They include 121,420 under Haj Committee and 14,600 under private groups. Among them, 42,500 pilgrims are allotted accommodation near the Haram in Makkah while 78,779 will be staying in Aziziyah. The first Haj flight will land in Madinah on Sept. 7. The Air India flight will be from Goa. Air India will operate the first flight to Jeddah on Sept. 16. Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 222 services to transport 74,090 pilgrims while Air India will carry 47,330 pilgrims on board 195 flights. A total of 61,000 pilgrims will be arriving in Jeddah and 60,800 in Madinah. Out of 546 Indian officials on deputation, 476 have so far arrived in the Kingdom to serve pilgrims, he said.
