Last special haj flight leaves Gaya

GAYA: The last of the 22 special flights of Air India carrying haj pilgrims from the state to Saudi Arabia left Gaya airport shortly before midnight on Saturday. Magadh division commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal saw the pilgrims off at the airport. The special haj flights for the pilgrims from Bihar began on July 4.
According to Central Haj Committee coordinator A M Karimi, altogether 3,289 pilgrims, including 1,415 women, took the special flights from Gaya.Earlier, the Air India had suspended its regular operation on the Gaya-Delhi route to accommodate haj pilgrims from the state. AI, it may be recalled, enjoys monopoly as far as carrying haj pilgrims is concerned as private carriers are not allowed to operate haj flights.
Each pilgrim had to deposit either Rs 2.9 lakh or Rs 3.23 lakh in the Central Haj Committee fund for making the pilgrimage. Pilgrims paying Rs 3.23 lakh would get better accommodation and other facilities as compared to those who paid Rs 2.9 lakh.
Karimi said the number of haj pilgrims from the state has witnessed decline in the last few years owing to rising cost of pilgrimage following the withdrawal of haj subsidy. “Pilgrims have been demanding open bid for air transport to bring down the cost as AI charged high fare as compared to the aviation market rates” said RLSP functionary Sarfaraz Khan.
As per official statistics, the number of pilgrims was the highest in 2015. Altogether 7,174 pilgrims performed haj that year. The number of pilgrims came down to 6,589 and 6,484 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In 2018, the number registered a sharp decline as only 4,798 pilgrims left the state for Saudi Arabia.
Karimi said the Bihar figures for 2019 were not final as the pilgrims from the state were also given the option to offer Kolkata as their embarkation point and Kolkata special flights will begin on 21 July. “Once the Kolkata leg is over, the final figures will be available,” said Karimi. An estimated 1,500 pilgrims, mostly from north and eastern parts of the state, have exercised the Kolkata option, sources said.