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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Purported sleazy videos case: Action on suspended DGP after dept inquiry, says Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said that the government will decide on further action against the now-suspended DGP K Ramachandra Rao based on recommendations following a departmental inquiry into a case concerning videos purportedly showing him behaving obscenely with women in his office.
The minister's comments followed reports that the special probe committee has ruled out Rao's claims that the clips were fake and AI-generated.
"After further departmental inquiry, whatever they recommend, the government will decide based on that. The department has to give a report to the government, and based on the recommendation made, we will take a decision," Parameshwara told reporters here in response to a question.
Since Rao claimed the circulating videos were fake AI creations, they were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), the minister said in response to a question.
"A team was formed in the department to find the truth. They have submitted a report to the department. The department will have to inform the government about the same, based on which further action will be taken," he added.
The state government had formed a team of four IPS officers, led by R Hitendra, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), to conduct a preliminary inquiry in the case.
The government in January suspended Rao, the 1993-batch IPS officer serving as the DGP, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE), after viral videos purportedly showing him acting in an obscene manner surfaced.
The videos purportedly show the 59-year-old hugging and kissing women while in office. He was wearing a police uniform in a few videos. Rao had, however, called the videos "fabricated" and vowed to take legal action.
There were even reports that the videos were shot in 2016-17 inside the office of the Inspector General of Police - Belagavi range.
