This year, more than 40,000 pilgrims from India will not be able to go on Haj pilgrimage. New rules have been issued for Haj pilgrimage in the year 2025. Along with this, the controversy over Haj quota has started catching up again. Due to Saudi Arabia’s decision, the sword is hanging when more than 42 thousand Indians went on Haj pilgrimage.
However, after the intervention of the Government of India, Saudi Arabia has allowed private operators to send 10,000 Indian pilgrims for Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, which is much less than the allotted quota. This year, more than 52,000 slots were allocated to Joint Haj group operators. These steps have been taken at a time when Saudi Arabia has allegedly cut private Haj pilgrims for Indian pilgrims by 80 percent. Now Indian leaders are demanding that the central government should intervene in this matter.
Learn what happened
According to reports, Saudi Arabia has canceled more than 52,000 slots for Indian Haj pilgrims this year. Now the ruling and opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir demanded intervention from the central government. Two days ago, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appealed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter to Saudi Arabia officials.
Abdullah wrote in a post on Instagram, “There are reports of cancellation of Haj slots of more than 52,000 Indian pilgrims, many of which have already completed the payment. I urge Honorable External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar to contact Saudi officials and find solutions in the interest of all the affected pilgrims. This remedy is very important for. “
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti described it as a “disturbing news”, causing pilgrims and tour operators being “having a lot of trouble”. He said in a post on X on 13 April, “I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take the matter before the Saudi government and intervene immediately, so that it can be resolved.”
Haj is the annual Muslim pilgrimage of the Haj holy city of Mecca, which every competent Muslim, who has economic means, must do it once in his lifetime. The Saudi Arabia government allocates a country-wise quota for pilgrims to participate in Haj. This figure is decided based on the number of Muslims living in a particular country. Explain that Haj 2025 will probably be from 4 June to 9 June.
The government said this
The Ministry of Minority Affairs said on 15 April that Saudi Arabia agreed to allow 10,000 Indian pilgrims from private Haj pilgrims quota for holy pilgrimage. It also mentions that the country-wise allocation of Haj quota for India has increased from 1,36,020 gradually to 1,75,025 in 2025 in 2014.
The ministry said that India’s total quota for Haj pilgrims this year is 175,025. Of this, under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Indian Haj Committee is making arrangements for 122,518 pilgrims under the main quota. The ministry said in a series of posts on X, “All necessary preparations – flights, transport, Meena camps, housing and services – have been completed according to Saudi guidelines.”
The remaining quota was allocated to private tour operators, in which the Ministry of Minority Affairs merged more than 800 operators into 26 CHGOs. Despite repeated reminders, these private operators could not complete the time limit of Saudi officials, and Meena also failed to finalize the required contracts for camps, housing and transport. Meena is a tent city just outside the maize, where Haj pilgrims stay for a day.
The ministry said that the Government of India has interacted with Saudi officials. The Haj and Umrah Ministry of Saudi Arabia expressed concern about the safety of pilgrims, especially in Meena, where Haj rituals are completed in excessive heat in a limited place. The Ministry wrote in its post, “Saudi side said that Meena is already occupied by Meena place due to delay and no country will be given any detail in the time limit this year.”
However, after the ministerial discussion, the Saudi Haj Ministry approved the reopening of Haj Portal (Nusuk Portal) for CHGOs to accommodate 10,000 Indian pilgrims. Due to the intervention of the government, the Saudi Haj Ministry has agreed to reopen the Haj (Nusuk) portal for CHGOs to accommodate 10,000 pilgrims based on current availability in Meena. The Ministry has issued immediate instructions to the CHGO to complete its procedure without any delay. “India appreciates any step taken by Saudi officials to place more pilgrims by Saudi officials,” the statement said.
