Indian Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba proposes to add a VIP category of accommodations for 15,000 Indian Haj pilgrims next season. The measure is part of a broad overhaul of Haj preparations he has tabled with the aim of better serving at least 125,000 Indians the government-run Central Haj Committtee expects to send for the next pilgrimage season in the year-end. “I want to put fewer people away from the Haram and more people near the Haram,” the Consul General told Saudi Gazette. “I would not want to take the risk of being responsible for organizing buses five times a day to and from the Haram for 54,000 pilgrims.” “It's such a mad job.” Baba's proposals were presented here last week during a meeting chaired by N. Ravi, secretary of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, and attended by Iqbal Ahmed Sardagi, parliamentarian and chairman of the Haj Committee of India. In a departure from the norm, the Haj Committee preparatory meeting was held much earlier this time around, at Baba's insistence. “We learned several lessons from last year's Haj,” he explained. Haj preparations were already mid-way last July when Baba and his new team of Haj consuls, B. S. Mubarak and D.B. Bhati, took office. Baba, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), was on his first diplomatic assignment abroad, having volunteered for the post on the strength of his experience in organizing district-level state and national polls, and his belief that “the most important assignment the CG is expected to undertake is to organize the Haj.” “When I joined in the first week of July, the (pilgrim) accommodations scenario was very bleak,” he said. “In fact, while our requirement was 110,000 housing units, only 17,000 was acquired. Hardly any time was left.” Compounding matters for the Consulate, the requirement rose to 123, 211 units by late August after the Saudi authorities increased the quota for Indian pilgrims. Transportation crisis Among the many problems the Consulate faced was an insufficient fund allocation of SR55,000 for the “white category” of pilgrim housing near the Haram. “It was abysmally low. We brought the Haj committee over twice during the operation, showed them the market demand but there was hardly any building left.” For the pilgrims, their only concern was to stay close to the Haram and offer prayers there five times a day – “at a very cheap rate, which contradicts what the market says,” the Consul General said. But given the dwindled number of housing units around the Haram from large-scale demolishing and reconstruction work taking place there under a massive development program undertaken by the Saudi government, accommodations were hard to find. As such, by the time the Haj season peaked, accommodations for about 54,000 pilgrims – out of 1,22,213 Haj Committee pilgrims in total – were found only in Azizia, about 7 km from the Haram, which meant that transportation had to be arranged, and each pilgrim had to pay SR100 more for it. “The buses would pick up the pilgrims from different buildings and drop them back, five times a day.” Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) and other road transport agencies helped by providing the buses but not the drivers, forcing the Consulate to employ volunteer drivers and also outsource part of the work to a private company. “The problem was in the logistics – differently marking the buses for each place, setting up tents at the boarding points for the pilgrims, collecting them from different points, keeping a count of them at all times, and dropping them all back, five times a day.” While the onward trips to the Haram, starting at 10, o'clock, were systematic, the return trip was chaotic with everybody – old men, women and children – wanting to return at once and clamoring to get on to the buses, Baba said. In the return phase, only 5 buses – not 50 –could be positioned at the boarding point near the Haram, which led to a daily scramble, he said. “This was a gigantic task.” The Malaysian example Another lesson the Consulate learned was that the orientation given to Indian Haj pilgrims back home was “very weak.” “Moassasa gives them orientation by showing a film, but then the Malaysians do a good job of it,” Baba said. “In Malaysia, you get to know a year before that you are going for the Haj, so you prepare yourself and are physically fit. And then there are replicas of the Haram and Mina there in your neighborhood, so you are physically oriented with the Haram, the roads, what's to be done, well before you land here – since you have done the ‘duplicate Haj.” Baba wants similar orientation programs conducted in India throughout the year. “There is some kind of orientation training there presently, but it is very weak.” “When you institutionalize anything, over time it becomes weak.” He has proposed to the Haj Committee that he, as consul general, the Haj consul and the Haj committee CEO should divide the states into three parts among themselves, go to each state Haj committee and give the trainers there practical training. “We'll also publish practical, easy-to-read booklets in the local language, on at least some of the important tips for the pilgrims.” Priorities The three main priorities in his proposals are fixing accommodations, avoiding the transportation problem and getting good buildings. “In the past, the search for accommodations would begin some time in the end of March or April with a Haj meeting here in Jeddah, so it's effectively May-end or June when the actual hiring of accommodations begins.” This time around, was eraly as January, even before the departure phase of the previous Haj ended, Baba and his team began the search for accommodations. They found that demand was high since the Indonesian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Turkish Haj organizers were already in the field, making bookings. The VIP category he proposes to introduce is for “the urbane city dweller” who is ready to pay for good accommodations near the Haram, like the new upmarket hotels towers that have attached bath, room service, and all that. “For the others, we are proposing to put 70,000 pilgrims in normal but good buildings within 17,000 meters from the Haram. These are not hotels and towers but buildings with 15 apartments in a floor, each having 5-8 bedded capacity. “We'll plan to put another 30,000 in Dawar Kudai, some 2 km around the Haram, which is another part of the periphery. The buildings there are good.” And only around 10,000 will be in Aziziya, about 7 km from the Haram. For the pilgrims, the Haj package cost is likely to rise. “It's a seller's market now,” the Consul General said, “The accommodations cost factor will definitely go up. I'd say SR500-SR800 would be the market price increase.” – SG FACT SHEET - HAJ 2008 (INDIA)Total no. of pilgrims arrived 166,991 Pilgrim arrivals through Haj Committee of India 122,213 Pilgrim arrivals through private tour operators 44,780Flights (total) 927 Incoming 465 Air India 266 Saudia 199 Outgoing 462 Air India 265 Saudia 197 Buildings hired (total) 544 Green 327 White 43 Shisha 16 Azizia 73 Haiyal Hijra 70 Dawar Kudai 15 Lost baggage Total cases handled 2053 Total cases resolved 1969 Cash aid Assistance provided to cash loss cases 995 Births/ Deaths Total no. of birth cases 6 Total no. of death cases 284 (including 14 due to road accidents) Jeddah 7 Makkah 211 Madinah 35 Mina/Arafat 31 Total road traffic accident cases 34 (including 14 road deaths Medical care Total pilgrim cases handled by Indian Haj Mission dispensaries 446,249 Indian Consulate data __
