Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 7 (ANI): Urging the Haj pilgrims to adhere to the national-international Protocol Guidelines on the COVID-19 strictly, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday announced that the online application process for the pilgrimage next year could be done through its mobile application.

As per a statement, the entire Haj process will be held from June to July of 2021, according to the guidelines issued by the Saudi Arabia government and the Government of India in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to ensure the health and well-being of the people in both the countries.

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"The process has been chalked out after deliberations among the Ministries of Minority Affairs, Health, External Affairs, Civil Aviation, the Haj Committee of India, and other relevant agencies keeping in view all aspects of the pandemic," the statement quoted Naqvi.

Each pilgrim will have to undergo a COVID-19 test, 72 hours prior to the start of the pilgrimage, and submit an RT-PCR test certificate, issued by an approved laboratory with a negative result before journeying to Saudi Arabia.

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Keeping in view the pandemic position and feedback received from Air India and other agencies, embarkation points have been reduced to 10 from 21 previously. The 10 embarkation points are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Srinagar. (ANI)

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