Centre assures of better facilities of Haj pilgrims this year

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday assured Haj pilgrims of better facilities this year by taking corrective measures to deal with problems faced by them last year when the state-run Air India was accused of mishandling their travel, causing long delay.

Minister of State for External Affairs Gen(retd) V K Singh said he would carry out surprise visits to see if poor services are being offered to pilgrims by different agencies involved in the exercise and asserted that action would be taken.

Speaking at the All India Haj Conference, he said all airlines, including Air India, entrusted with the job of flying pilgrims had been asked to offer quality services and catering facilities too were improved.

Four different kind of foods would be served in Saudi Arabia this year to cater to different tastes of Indian pilgrims, he said. "I hope when pilgrims come back, they will tell us that the service this time was better than the last time," he said.

While admitting to problems faced by the Haj pilgrims last year, he said it was still better than the year before and added that it would be better still this year.

Over 3.83 lakh Muslims applied for Haj this year against the Indian quota of over 1.20 lakh pilgrims.

Singh also took questions from delegates, who had arrived from different states and parliamentarians, as he offered them assurance of better services.

There would be no fly-by-night private operator this year, he insisted, as the government had put in filters to ensure that only well-known operators remain in the field. "There would be less difficulty and more transparency," he said.

Singh also announced that pilgrims embarking on the Haj-bound plane from Srinagar would have to pay USD 1,890 this year against USD 2,635 paid earlier.

Pilgrims would be given standardised luggage as there were complaints from Saudi authorities about different kinds of luggages brought by Indian pilgrims.

Singh said he had taken up the matter of increasing Indian quota with the Saudi government and was hopeful of a positive response in the coming years.