Passport Mela for Hajj aspirants begins in city

Mangalore, February 14: A 'Passport Mela' for Hajj aspirants was inaugurated on Tuesday in the city, as the Hajj Committee of India (HCI) has made it mandatory for them to have passports to undertake the pilgrimage.

The five-day 'Mela' is being organised by Dakshina Kannada District Hajj Executive Committee (DKDHEC) under the guidance of Karnataka State Hajj Committee (KSHC) at the Yenepoya Trust Office located in Karnad Sadashiva Rao Memorial Building near Idgah on Light House Hill Road, here.

According to the organisers this measure has been taken in order to avoid confusion at the last minute, while people are ready to go for Hajj pilgrimage.

Aspirants from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu districts are deriving benefit from the Mela, which will conclude on February 18.

The Mela was inaugurated at around 10 am in presence of Yenepoya Mohammed Kunhi, President of DKHEC, Rasheed Haji, S M Rasheed Haji, B A Moideen Bava, Hajj Committee official K M Basha and others.

The organisers will help the applicants to fill the applications and explain them about the required documents. The applicants are expected to visit the passport office in Mangalore to get their passports on a scheduled date.

State-wide arrangements

After the Central Hajj Committee introduced a new rule last year demanding the Hajj aspirants to provide their passport numbers, while applying to set out for their pilgrimage, the KSHC has initiated state wide arrangements to help the aspirants to secure passports before the scheduled date.

Any Hajj application submitted without the passport numbers will be considered as invalid. A representative of Karnataka State Hajj Committee B R Abdul Wajid informed that arrangements have been made to get passports earlier, so as to avoid confusion and delay after the applicants are chosen for the pilgrimage. In the previous year, several pilgrims had held the Hajj committee responsible when their passports did not get a clearance from the passport authorities.

Abdul Wajid stated that passport officials will be present at the State Hajj Committee office in Bangalore to help applicants access passport applications online. This rule will require extra efforts from the Hajj Committee, as processing passport applications is not as easy and police verification takes a long time for many applicants.

Residents of Bangalore Urban and Rural, Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Chickmagalur, Chikballapur, Chitradurga, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur and Yadgir districts are required to submit applications for passports to the Bangalore Hajj Committee office on Richmond Road.

Applicants in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, North Kannada and Udupi are required to submit their documents to the organisers of the current Mela.

Applicants in Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bellary, Bijapur, Davangere, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Koppal are required to submit their applications at Bright Educational Welfare Cultural and Religious Association, Hubli.

More Passports

In a positive gesture, the Regional Passport Office, and Passport Seva Kendras (PKSs) have started issuing additional applications for passports, especially for Hajj pilgrims this year. New counters have been opened at the passport PSKs and passport applications issuing offices Mangalore, Hubli and Gulbarga, besides an increase in the number of applications issued.

According to Regional Passport Officer Dr K J Sreenivasa it was decided to issue 350 applications dedicatedly for Hajj passengers, apart from regular passport applications which cross over 2,500 every day.

“Last year, despite their names figuring in the lottery, a number of Hajj aspirants could not make it since their passports did not reach them on time. To avoid such last minute glitches, we have taken some advance measures so that the applicants do not suffer,” he informed.

Of 350 applications, Lalbagh passport Seva Kendra will issue 150 applications followed by Marathhalli office with 100, Mangalore with 30 and Hubli with 20, he said.

The Gulbarga passport office which had a recent inaugural is also issuing applications to Hajj aspirants. “Passport offices in Mangalore and Gulbarga will help Hajj aspirants who need not travel to Bangalore for passport applications,” Dr Sreenivasa said.

50,000 from Karnataka

Every year, close to 50,000 people from Karnataka under take Hajj and a lottery is drawn by the Hajj committee so that there is no rush and the process is transparent.

Passport officials ask the Hajj committee members to clear the list of people who are selected for the Haj trip 2012.

Once the list is finalised, aspirants can apply for passports and receive the document before the flight leaves for the Hajj.