Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

With the arrival of nearly half of the pilgrims in the holy cities, Indian Haj Mission’s operation is gathering steam. Like a well-oiled machine, the Consul General B.S. Mubarak and his team are exerting great efforts to enable the pilgrims to perform their rituals in ease and comfort. They are making optimum utilization of the all available high tech devices to facilitate a smooth and hassle-free Haj operation.



Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Mubarak said that the new state-of-the-art navigation system introduced to help the pilgrims to find their way to their places of accommodation is working perfectly well. “As many as 5,500 pilgrims downloaded the application for Android and around 1,000 for iPhone and this has helped to bring down the number of lost pilgrims substantially,” he said. The Indian Haj Mission is the first foreign mission in the Kingdom to come up with the innovative Global Positioning System (GPS) application called “Indian Haj Accommodation Locator”.



Several pilgrims have been enthusiastic to download the app on their mobile phone immediately after their arrival in the Kingdom so that they can easily reach the holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah from their accommodation. “Some pilgrims managed to reclaim their lost baggage thanks to the locator. There are scores of volunteers who assist the Indian Haj Mission officials in helping elderly pilgrims to locate their accommodation by using this application,” he said. A user-friendly menu will guide the web surfer to the pilgrims’ accommodation in Makkah, Mina and Madinah by simply entering the pilgrim’s cover number or passport number. If any pilgrim is not carrying ID, even his metal bracelet identification tags on wrists will be connected to the mobile phone devices of Haj Mission officials and volunteers will help them locate the accommodation.



Mubarak, who served earlier as India’s Haj consul for four years from 2008, said that the Mission was able to streamline the delivery of food for pilgrims at their lodgings in Madinah after some early problems. There were some complaints from pilgrims about the poor quality of food served by some catering companies. There were also complaints about defective distribution of food as each batch of catering workers took food to four or five buildings at a time. This caused delay in getting food on time and some other problems, in the extreme hot weather being experienced in Madinah. “We were closely attentive to this matter from the very first day itself and learned a lot of things. Permission for food supply was taken away from two catering companies for allegedly providing below quality food and now things are being stabilized,” he said, adding that pilgrims, who are staying in around 70 buildings, are by and large happy with the meals served to them.



A total of 136,020 Indian pilgrims are performing Haj this year. They include 100,020 under India’s Central Haj Committee and 36,000 who come through private tour operators. Among the pilgrims under the Haj Committee, 48, 986 have arrived in the Kingdom by Wednesday, according to Deputy Consul General and Consul (Haj) Sheikh Md Noor Rahman. Of these, 21,918 are in Makkah and 27,068 in Madinah. Out of the total 360 flights from 21 embarkation points, 175 landed at Jeddah and Madinah airports. Flights from Srinagar, Kashmir, to Madinah scheduled for Sept. 5-12 have been postponed due to floods. Rahman said that a total of 521 Indian staffers came on deputation to serve the pilgrims. They included 126 doctors and 146 paramedics. The overall health condition of pilgrims is satisfactory. Six pilgrims, including two private pilgrims, died, he added.



Volunteers gear up to swing into action



Several Indian expatriate organizations have started elaborate preparations by mobilizing their manpower to extend the best possible voluntary services for Haj pilgrims. Last year, Saudi Gazette saw thousands of volunteers in action to render help to pilgrims at the holy sites of Mina and Arafat during the first four days of Haj. The presence of a large number of women and children volunteers was especially noticeable. These volunteers belonged to different Indian social, cultural and religious forums, such as the Jeddah Haj Welfare Forum, India Fraternity Forum (IFF), the Indian Pilgrim Welfare Forum (IPWF), Haj Cells of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Center (KMCC), Risala Study Circle and the Indian Dawa Center (IDC). As many as 250 students from the International Indian School-Jeddah have also joined them. Pilgrims from all over the world were the beneficiaries of their selfless, untiring and dedicated service.



Haj Welfare Forum: The Jeddah Haj Welfare Forum, which is an umbrella organization of around 21 social and cultural organizations, decided to send 500 volunteers to the holy sites. This year, we have extended our services to Jeddah Haj terminal also, says Abbas Chemban, chairman of the forum. “All the arrangements are in place and the volunteers are being trained to serve the pilgrims in the best possible manner.” The forum opened its information office at Al-Noor Medical Center, Sharafiyyah. The forum has plans to distribute 25,000 free packets of food in Mina, besides rendering various types of services, including helping lost pilgrims to find their accommodation. Haj Welfare Forum branch committees in Makkah and Madinah are offering services to pilgrims who started flocking into the holy cities from all over the world.



India Fraternity Forum: As in the previous years, India Fraternity Forum (IFF) is fielding the largest number of Haj volunteers for the coming Haj also. IFF volunteers have already started serving pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah, said Kabeer Kondotty, media coordinator of IFF. Women’s Fraternity Forum (WFF) and Students Fraternity Forum (SFF) will also join in this noble work. IFF fielded a total of 1,200 volunteers, including 32 women and 24 students for the Haj of 2013. A 24-hour help desk has been created. The Mina location map, designed by IFF last year, was used extensively by the Indian Haj Mission and the Haj missions of the neighboring countries.



KMCC Haj Cell: The Haj Cell of Kerala Muslim Cultural Center (KMCC) is mobilizing around 1,000 volunteers. Ahmed Palayatt, President of KMCC Jeddah Central Committee and General Convener of the Haj Cell, told Saudi Gazette that KMCC volunteers from all parts of the Kingdom will arrive in Makkah to serve the pilgrims. “We fielded about 100 volunteers in Makkah to help pilgrims during their travel from Aziziyah accommodation to the Haram. Our volunteers are there at Jeddah Haj terminal from Sept. 7,” he said. Last year, the cell distributed rice soup for nearly 100,000 pilgrims during the last four days of Haj, in addition to rendering all other services. It used 40 wheelchairs and two ambulances for the purpose, Palayatt said.



Risala Study Circle The Saudi National Committee of Risala Study Circle (RSC) is geared up to train volunteers. RSC’s Haj Volunteer Core has been in the forefront to serve the pilgrims for the last six years, said Khaleel Rahman, media wing convener of RSC. “There will be 600 volunteers from various parts of the Kingdom for the coming Haj. Our volunteers are now serving pilgrims at the Haram in Makkah and Madinah,” he said adding that RSC has a strong medical wing to help sick pilgrims get best medical care and treatment on time.