Over 2,300 women to go on Hajj this year without 'Mehram': Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
New Delhi, Jan 16: Over 2,300 Muslim women from India will go on Hajj this year without 'Mehram' or male companion as all those who applied under this category have been exempted from the lottery system, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Wednesday.
The Modi government had last year allowed women going to Hajj without Mehram, which had resulted in about 1,300 Muslim women going for the pilgrimage without any male companion. They had been exempted from the lottery system.
Naqvi, while inaugurating the new office space of Haj Division at RK Puram here, said that for the first time after the Independence, 2,340 Muslim women have applied to go on Hajj 2019 without Mehram.
This year too, on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minority Affairs Ministry has made arrangement to send these women on Haj without the lottery system, he was quoted as saying in a statement released from his office.
Women from all states are among the 2,340 that have applied to go on Hajj 2019 without Mehram.
More than 2,67,000 applications had been received for Hajj this year out of which 1,64,902 applications have been submitted online, Naqvi said.
A lottery is conducted to select the pilgrims as there is a fixed quota allotted by Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage.
A record number of 1,75,025 Muslims, including about 48 per cent women, from India performed Hajj in 2018 and that too without any subsidy, Naqvi said.
With the Goods and Services Tax on Haj pilgrimage reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, about Rs 113 crore will be saved by Haj pilgrims this year, he said.
Reduction in GST on Haj pilgrimage will ensure significant decrease in air fare from various embarkation points.
Naqvi said that making the Hajj process digital has helped in making it transparent and pro-pilgrims.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs, in cooperation with Saudi Arabia Hajj Consulate, Haj Committee of India and other agencies concerned, has completed preparations for the pilgrimage three months before schedule to ensure that the pilgrimage is more comfortable for the pilgrims.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
