Debabrata Saikia writes to Chief Minister highlighting problems of Haj pilgrims

GUWAHATI: Debabrata Saikia, the leader of the opposition in the Assam legislative assembly, has written to the chief minister of the state regarding the non-availability of flights for Haj pilgrims from Guwahati.He mentioned that although the Ministry of Civil Aviation had issued a tender notice on March 16, 2023, for the Haj 2023 operation, which was to be closed on April 5, 2023, for the operation of chartered flights from 22 locations in India to Jeddah or Medina and back to respective locations between May 21, 2023, and August 2, 2023, including Guwahati as the boarding point for over 6,000 passengers, He called it unfortunate that the same has not been offered to the pilgrims now. The Joint State Haj Committee under the Department of Minority and Development, Assam, is the nodal agency for providing necessary assistance to the Haj aspirants of the North East, but it is unfortunate that this Committee is not able to provide direct flights as done in the previous years. In the past years, all international protocols like customs, immigration clearance, etc. for taking international flights for the Haj pilgrims used to be completed at LGBI Airport, Guwahati. However, this year, the Haj pilgrims from north-east India will have to go to either Delhi or Mumbai. This will result in great inconvenience for the Haj pilgrims of the Northeast.

Asking the pilgrims of the Northeast to complete the international mandatory process for travel via Mumbai or New Delhi at the eleventh hour will cause hardship, including financial difficulty, to many,” added Debabrata Saikia in his letter.

The Joint State Haj Committee of Assam, Meghalaya, and Nagaland had mentioned sending 6,302 pilgrims to Mecca in 2023, including 4281 males and 2021 females. This is the highest ever in the history of the Haj pilgrimage from these three northeastern states. The district-wise breakup of Haj pilgrims from Assam includes 1080 from Cachar, 864 from Karimganj, 555 from Hailakandi, 305 from Dhubri, 397 from Barpeta, 240 from Darrang, 368 from Nagaon, 282 from Kamrup (M), 301 from Kamrup, 238 from Goalpara, 156 from Lakhimpur, 135 from Nalbari, and 192 from Sivasagar.

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