There is an increase of more than a thousand, compared to the 4000 Indian women who performed Hajj without ‘mahram’ in 2023
5,162 Indian women are expected to travel for Hajj without ‘mahram’ this year, marking the highest number so far since the 2018 reform did away with the compulsion of a male companion with women on the pilgrimage.
The data released by the Haj Committee of India said, there are a total applications of 6,370 women who are above 70 years of age and 5,162 women who want to go on the pilgrimage without ‘mahram’ (male companion) for Haj 2024.
The process of drawing lots for the Hajj applicants was carried out on Monday by the Haj Committee under the guidance and supervision of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
However, applications of all women above 70 and those who want to go for the pilgrimage without ‘mahram’ were accepted without being put through the process of drawing lots.
The total quota of 1,75,025 pilgrims from India has been finalized for Haj 2024 with 1,40,020 seats being reserved for pilgrims to proceed through the Haj Committee whereas 35,005 pilgrims would be permitted to proceed through private operators.
In the year 2024, a total of 1,74,117 applications were received for Hajj by the Haj Committee, with the highest coming from Kerala (24,784). The number of women to travel for Hajj without ‘mahram’ was also highest from Kerala at 3584.
As conveyed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India and as per Annual Bilateral Hajj Agreement between India and Saudi Arabia a quota of 140020 seats has been allocated for the Haj Committee of India for Hajj 2024 (Hijri 445). The allocated quota has been distributed as per the Haj Policy 2024 for pilgrims among various States/Union Territory Haj Committees.
Liaquat Ali Afaqi, Chief Executive Officer of the Haj Committee of India said that the Quota allocated to various States/Union Territory Hajj Committees for the pilgrimage has been calculated as per the percentage of the Muslim population of the 2011 census.
As per the official data, out of the 5,162 women who will go on Hajj without ‘mahram’, 3,584 are from Kerala, 378 from Tamil Nadu, 249 from Karnataka, 166 from Maharashtra, 141 from Uttar Pradesh, 130 from Telangana, 82 from Jammu and Kashmir, 72 from Madhya Pradesh, 64 from Gujarat, 50 from Delhi, 44 from Andhra Pradesh, 40 from West Bengal, 33 from Rajasthan, 30 from Bihar, 29 from Assam, 19 from Puducherry, 14 from Chhattisgarh, 10 from Uttarakhand, nine from Jharkhand, five each from Goa and Odisha, three from Ladakh, two from Lakshadweep, and one each from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The rest of them — Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Manipur and Tripura — saw no applications at all.
“To finalize the list of applicants to be selected as pilgrims to go on the pilgrimage through the Haj Committee, the randomisation process of drawing lots started at 11 AM, was successfully completed by 3 PM, and was witnessed by the representatives of various State/UT Haj Committees on a real-time basis,” a statement said.
