Indian Haj pilgrims will promote 'vocal for local' by taking most of the indigenous goods along with them from home instead of buying from Saudi Arabia this time.

As the online application process for Haj 2022 started today, the government said that the pilgrims will not have to buy stuff such as bed sheets, pillows, towels, umbrellas and other items from Saudi Arabia in foreign currency.

They will instead have the option of buying these indigenous goods in India at about 50 percent lower prices in comparison to Saudi Arabia. All these items will be available for the Haj pilgrims at their respective embarkation points in India.

Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, while announcing the details of the pilgrimage at the Haj House in Mumbai today, said that pilgrims from India had been buying all these items from Saudi Arabia in foreign currency for decades now.

He said that most of the stuff was 'Made in India' which various companies used to sell to Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia at double or even triple the price. The minister estimated that the new arrangement will save crores of rupees as India sends two lakh Haj pilgrims every year.

Haj 2022 is being held with significant reforms and enhanced facilities with the last date of applying being January 31, 2022.

The entire process will be online with people also having the option of applying through the Haj Mobile App which has been upgraded with the tagline 'Haj App In Your Hand' and contains several new features.

Haj selection based on complete Covid-19 vaccination

Naqvi said that the selection process of Haj pilgrims will be done according to complete vaccination with both the doses and guidelines and criteria to be decided by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia, keeping in view the pandemic protocols during the time of Haj 2022.

10 embarkation points for Haj 2022

The embarkation points for Haj 2022 have been reduced from 21 to 10 – people can leave from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Cochin, Guwahati, and Srinagar.  

E-Masiha for all pilgrims

Digital health card 'E-Masiha' health facility and 'E-luggage pre-tagging' will be provided for all information regarding accommodation/transportation in Makkah-Madinah.

Naqvi said that more than 3000 women had applied for Haj 2020 and 2021 under without 'Mehram' (male companion) category. Their applications will be eligible for Haj 2022 also if they want to go to perform Haj 2022. All the women without 'Mehram' category will be exempted from the lottery system.

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