MACHINE READABLE HAJJ PASSES

The government is planning to issue machine-readable Hajj passes for this year. Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmad met the Deputy Hajj Minister of Saudi Arabia Hatem Qadi to resolve the international passport problem and a positive response is expected. The CEO of Hajj Committee of India Mohammed Owais, however, said the Committee so far did not receive any written instruction from the Ministry. He said a final meeting will be held with the Saudi Government on April 22. If the government gives its nod, the Hajj digital pass facility will be available for this year. Earlier, the Indian pilgrims would go for Hajj on a temporary passport provided by the Hajj Committee of India but due to security concerns about passes being forged the Saudi Government from this year made it mandatory for every pilgrim to hold international passport. Since a huge number of Hajis are from rural areas the Indian government and the Muslim NGOs had sought a year’s time from the Saudi Government to comply with the rule.