Srinagar: In a significant development under the 2025 Hajj policy, the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) has announced the allocation of 500 Haj seats in India under the ‘Mehram Quota’ for Haj 2025.Notably, as per the officials during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage, 49 such female pilgrims who applied under the Maharam quota from Jammu and Kashmir were selected.A senior officer at J&K’s Hajj committee office said that there was no such number allocation under the Mehram quota for J&K, but that they facilitated 49 such pilgrims during the 2024 Hajj.According to a circular, the provision addresses the cases where female pilgrims intending to perform Haj could not apply due to reasons like the unavailability of passports, while their male companions (Mehram) successfully applied and were selected.The circular states that to address such cases, provisions have been made to include these intending female pilgrims in the cover of their selected ‘Sharai Mehram’. It further states that without this arrangement, such lady pilgrims would face challenges in performing Hajj in subsequent years due to the absence of a Mehram.“To accommodate them, 500 Haj seats have been specifically allocated under the Mehram category as per the policy applicable for Haj-2025,” the circular states.The norms lay down in the circular for the selection of lady pilgrim’s state that the lady pilgrim must have never undertaken the Haj pilgrimage earlier, either through the Haj Committee of India, Haj Group Organizers (HGO), or any other means.The norms state that she must fulfil all criteria for making an application for Haj- 2025.It further states that applications must be submitted online only through the Haj Committee of India’s official website, https:// hajcommittee.gov.in.While the last date for submission of Haj Application Form is 11:59 PM, December 09, 2024, the circular states that hard copies of handwritten or typed applications will not be accepted.It further states that the applicant must possess a machine-readable valid Indian international passport issued before the prescribed last date for submission of applications. The passport must be valid at least up to January 15, 2026.“The applicant must upload the first and last pages of a valid, machine-readable Indian international passport, a recent passport-sized photograph, a proof of address, and a valid document establishing the relationship with her Mehram. Applications lacking sufficient documents will be rejected,” states the circular.The circular mentions that a cover can include a maximum of five (5) pilgrims. The lady pilgrim cannot apply for a cover that already includes five (5) pilgrims.“The respective State/UT Haj Committees may recommend such applications after thorough verification in the light of the Haj Guidelines-2025 latest by December 11, 2024. In case any discrepancy is found at a later stage, the onus would lie upon the respective State/UT Haj Committee,” reads the circular.The circular in norms states that the Haj Committee of India will consider the applications on merit, subject to the availability of seats. In case the number of applications exceeds the available quota, a Digital Random Selection process will be conducted to allocate the seats—(KNO)
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