About 1,000 elderly Haj aspirants from the State will be able to make the pilgrimage following the Supreme Court’s verdict on Tuesday that asked the Ministry of Minority Affairs to allow those in the 65-69 age group who have applied five times before.
This is apart from the existing 10,980 seats given to the State. The actual quota for Kerala allotted by the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) is only 6,400. “We have been able to achieve partial success through legal remedies. Unfortunately, the Ministry gave the figure of 2,000 in the category of elderly persons,” Thodiyoor Muhammed Kunju Moulavi, chairman of the Haj committee, told The Hindu on Wednesday. This year, Saudi Arabia increased India’s Haj quota by 5,000, taking the total to 1,75,025. “However, the Supreme Court has left it to the Centre to revive the Haj embarkation point at Calicut airport,” he noted.
The order of the apex court helped restore all the 21 existing Haj embarkation points in the country, including the Kochi airport, from its earlier policy that recommended only nine embarkation points.
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The Moulavi said that the HCoI had been compelled to reverse some of its irrational policies after the Kerala State Haj Committee moved the court on behalf of the pilgrims.
Besides, he pointed out that the Ministry had also reduced the airfare for Haj pilgrims when the Kerala Haj Committee raised the issue of inviting global tenders instead of the Indian government having an agreement with the Saudi government that allowed only Air India, Saudi Airlines and Flynas [a budget airline operated from Saudi Arabia] to operate Haj flights.
Significantly, the Moulavi said that the HCoI has taken a decision to bring aides, who travel with the pilgrims who have crossed 70 years of age, under the reserved category.
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However, the Kerala State Haj Committee supported the proposal on the single category of accommodation for pilgrims in Makkah, Azizia and adjoining areas in Saudi Arabia.