Around 2,800 pilgrims are expected to go on the pilgrimage this year from the state
The first batch of Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu including 164 women left for the pilgrimage from Chennai International airport on Monday.
Chennai: The first batch of Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu including 164 women left for the pilgrimage from Chennai International airport on Monday. Around 2,800 pilgrims are expected to go on the pilgrimage this year from the state, according to Tamil Nadu State Haj Committee.
The first batch of 350 pilgrims was housed at the Haj Service Society in Pulianthope and they left by the 6.30 pm flight on Wednesday, a Haj Committee member said. “The other pilgrims will leave in batches until September 11. The pilgrims are segregated into eight batches,” an official said.
The first batch that left on Monday is expected to arrive by October 19. Of the 2,800 pilgrims, 1,350 are women and the rest are men. Minority welfare minister S. Abdul Rahim saw off the pilgrims at the airport.
“Those registered under the Haj Committee have subsidized air ticket rates. They are expected to pay only Rs 40,000 as against the original fare of Rs 69,000,” a member said. This year, the state Haj Committee had received a total of 15,032 applications from pilgrims, which prompted the CM to ask the center to release a larger quota for Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu.
A total of 3,696 and 2,858 pilgrims had gone to Haj in 2013 and 2014, according to an official release from the government.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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