The Haj 2015 season will commence with the issue of application forms from January 19 to February 20. The conduct of ‘qurrah’ (draw of lots) for selection of pilgrims will be done some time between March 16 and 24 by different State Haj Committees.
The big question is whether to hold a single or separate ‘qurrah’ for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh pilgrims. No decision is taken yet. While Telangana has set up its own Haj Committee, AP is yet to take a lead in this direction. Meanwhile, the AP government has entered into an agreement with Telangana for taking care of its pilgrims this year.
A formal MoU was signed by Minority Welfare Secretaries of both the States. The Telangana State Haj Committee (TSHC) would be collecting charges for the services rendered, it is said.
The Haj Committee of India has finalised an action plan which is duly approved by the Ministry of External Affairs. The State Haj Committees are asked to adhere to the dates mentioned in the action plan for smooth conduct of the Haj programme. Any delay in the calendar of activities would hamper the overall Haj management.
As per the tentative schedule, the ‘Arafat day’, the highpoint of Haj, will be on September 23. Chartered Haj flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia will start from August 17 and the last outbound flight from India will be on September 19. “The actual flight schedule for various States will be announced later,” said Prof. S. A. Shukoor, special officer, TSHC.
Selected pilgrims will have to make the advance payment towards Haj by the third week of April. The last date for submission of passports and pay-in-slips of advance Haj amount to the State Haj Committee is April last week. A central delegation will visit Saudi Arabia for bilateral talks next month and this will be followed by visit of Building Selection Teams in March.
The All India Haj conference is scheduled to be held on April 23 to look into the nitty-gritty.
About 5,000 pilgrims from Telangana and 2,500 from AP are expected to be selected. Last year, 6043 pilgrims performed Haj from the combined state. Prof. Shukoor has suggested selection of pilgrims on the basis of the 2011 census instead of 2001. If this is done, an additional 1,000 pilgrims stand to be selected.
HAJ 2015
Draw of lots: Between Mar 16 and 24
Haj flights: From Aug 17 to Sep 19
No of pilgrims likely from TS: 5,000
