Despite Modi's Saudi visit, uncertainty persists for 42,500 Hajj pilgrims
New Delhi: Uncertainty looms large over the fate of 42,500 Indian Hajj pilgrims registered with private tour operators, as procedural lapses prevented the completion of formalities before the closure of Saudi Arabia's Hajj portal.
Even as hopes were pinned on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia for a resolution, the issue reportedly remained unaddressed, especially after his trip was cut short due to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Private tour operators allege that the central government failed to inform them about the February deadline for completing Hajj travel procedures. However, the government blames the operators for not adhering to required protocols in time.
Saudi Arabia had recently announced an additional quota of 10,000 Hajj slots, reopening the Nusukh portal on Thursday. But tour operators claim that technical issues have stalled the uploading process. The portal is set to close by May 5, leaving very little time. Reportedly, fewer than 500 pilgrims from Kerala may benefit from this new quota.
Out of the 1.75 lakh Hajj slots allotted to India under the India-Saudi agreement, 30%—approximately 52,500—were designated for private operators. It is this quota that is now in jeopardy.
An estimated 11,000 pilgrims from Kerala had registered through private operators, some even switching from the government-run Hajj Committee in hopes of better services. Many of them have already paid up to Rs 6 lakh, either as an advance or in full. Operators claim that these payments were remitted to the central authorities.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
