50% decline in Haj pilgrims this year in J&K
The Haj-2025 flights from Jammu and Kashmir will commence from May 4 with over 3,624 pilgrims expected to perform the annual pilgrimage this year down from 7,008 pilgrims who went for Haj last year.
There has been around 50% decline in the number of pilgrims who will be performing Haj from Jammu and Kashmir this year as compared to 2024, officials said citing costlier Haj rates owing to discontinuation of subsidy, non-participation of foreign airlines and high temperatures as the reason.
The Haj-2025 flights from Jammu and Kashmir will commence from May 4 with over 3,624 pilgrims expected to perform the annual pilgrimage this year down from 7,008 pilgrims who went for Haj last year.
Officials said that a majority of the flights will operate from Srinagar International Airport to Saudi Arabia.
“As many as 3,624 pilgrims from J&K and 242 from Ladakh will perform Haj this year,” said Shujaat Ahmad Qureshi, executive officer, J&K Haj Committee.
This year Haj flights are scheduled to begin from May 4, from Srinagar to Saudi Arabia, with the final flight carrying pilgrims on May 15.
“There will be 13 flights from Srinagar and one flight with 440 pilgrims on board from Delhi,” he said.
Last year 7,008 pilgrims from J&K performed the Haj as against 12,079 pilgrims in 2023. In 2022, around 6,000 pilgrims from Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh performed Haj pilgrimage, while the Haj could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions.
Qureshi cited multiple reasons for the decline in the number of pilgrims.
“One reason is that the Haj this year falls in peak summer season amid high temperatures and second reason is high rates of Haj primarily because of 15% VAT charging by Saudi Arabia after 2019 and the discontinuation of subsidy by us after 2018,” he said.
The Haj subsidy, which aimed to offset travel costs for pilgrims from India to Saudi Arabia, was abolished from January 2018 by the central government.
He said that the tendering was on the higher side at Srinagar Airport as the foreign airlines don’t participate. “Only local airlines participate,” he said.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri on Wednesday directed all the concerned departments and agencies to work in synergy for making the Haj-2025 a hassle-free and seamless experience for the intending pilgrims.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the arrangements made for this year’s Haj pilgrimage, Bidhuri issued a slew of directions to the officers and instructed them to intensify preparations for the foolproof arrangements for the intending pilgrims and ensure their smooth departure, government spokesperson said.
While highlighting the significance of Haj, the Div Com urged the DCs to immediately activate the Haj Cells in their respective offices to monitor all the preparations with respect to facilitation of pilgrims in their respective districts. He directed the health department to establish medical camps for timely vaccination of pilgrims in their respective districts so that all the selected pilgrims are protected and certificates of vaccination are issued in their favour well in time.
He also directed officials to make sufficient arrangements for boarding & lodging facilities at Haj House for the pilgrims from Jammu and Ladakh while factoring in road and weather conditions.
To facilitate seamless movement of Haj Convoy vehicles, the Div Com directed the traffic department to chalk out a meticulous plan for smooth movement of pilgrim buses & luggage vehicles from Haj House Bemina to Srinagar Airport. He also instructed the SSP, traffic rural, to ensure smooth movement of vehicles ferrying Haj pilgrims from Ladakh to Srinagar Haj House.
