Arrangements being made to vaccinate Haj pilgrims: Union Minister Naqvi
Mumbai: Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday said arrangements are being made to administer coronavirus vaccines to those going from India for the Haj pilgrimage.
He was speaking after chairing a meeting of the Haj Committee of India officials and Haj Group organisers at Haj House in south Mumbai.
The last date for submission of application forms for Haj 2021 is January 10, he said. Embarkation point-wise estimated cost per Haj pilgrim has been reduced, he added.
Naqvi said around 50 per cent of the total applicants so far are women and over 700 women have so far applied under the without 'mehram' (male companion) category.
Over 2100 women had applied for Haj 2020 under that category. These women will go to Haj 2021 as the application filled up by them for Haj 2020 is also valid for Haj 2021, a statement from the minister's office said.
Keeping in view the pandemic situation and feedback from Air India and other agencies, embarkation points for Haj 2021 have been reduced to 10, Naqvi said.
The 10 embarkation points are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar.
Earlier, there were 21 Haj embarkation points across the country.
Saudi authorities had announced in June that due to the pandemic, pilgrims from outside the kingdom would not be permitted to enter Saudi Arabia to perform Haj last year. This year the Haj will be in July.
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BJP will 'throw away' Constitution if it returns to power, claims Rahul Gandhi
Bhind (MP) (PTI): Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that if the BJP returns to power at the Centre, it will "tear apart" and "throw away" the Constitution which granted rights to the poor, Dalits, STs and the OBCs.
Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district, Gandhi, while holding a copy of the Constitution (book), said the ongoing Lok Sabha poll is not a normal election, but a fight between two ideologies.
"The poor, STs, OBCs got several rights because of the Constitution which also gave the people MGNREGA, land rights, reservation, and other things. If the BJP comes to power, it will throw away and tear apart this Constitution," he claimed.
"The prime minister, Amit Shah (Union Home Minister) and their MPs have made up their mind that if they get elected, they will tear apart and throw this (Constitution) book. The BJP wants this book to be thrown away and 20-25 billionaires should run the country," the Wayanad MP further claimed.
He also targeted the BJP government over the issue of reservation.
If the ruling dispensation is not against reservation, then why it is privatising PSUs, the Railways and other sectors, he asked.
Gandhi also said that if the Congress comes to power, it will make crores of women "lakhpati" through its Mahalaksmi Yojana.
Under the scheme, the government will transfer Rs 1 lakh (Rs 8,500 per month) into the accounts of the women to make them "lakhpati", he said.
"If Prime Minister Narendra Modi can turn 22-25 industrialists into billionaires, then the Congress will turn crores of women into lakhpatis," Gandhi said.
The Congress has fielded MLA Phool Singh Baraiya from the Bhind Lok Sabha (SC-reserved) seat against BJP's sitting MP Sandhya Rai.
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