For the first time in Jharkhand, the air-tickets of State applicants for the upcoming Haj trip were confirmed through lottery (Qurrah) here on Saturday. The lottery included pilgrims of 18 districts registered under Jharkhand State Haj Committee. Pilgrims whose names were mentioned in the provincial list were informed through the SMS by the evening.
The lottery organised at the website of Haj Committee, has fixed a quota of 2,873 pilgrims for the State. “The quota was decided on the basis of Muslim population in the State which is around 37,31,308. As many as 3,033 had applied for this year’s Haj,” Jharkhand State Haj Committee secretary N Hoda said.
Among the 18 districts comprising Ranchi (with Khunti), Bokaro, Chatra, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dumka, East Singhbhum, Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Gumla (with Simdega), Hazaribagh (with Ramgarh), Koderma, lohardaga, Pakur, Palamau (with latehar), Sahebganj, West Singhbhum (with Seraikela-Kharsawan) the former two districts have been provided the maximum quota of 507 applicants.
The minimum quota is 28 applicants reserved for Gumla and Simdega districts. Speaking about the ticket distribution, member of the State Haj Committee Wahid Khan said, “Selected Haj pilgrims are supposed to pay an amount of `81,000 by May 10. After this date, we will be able to find the status of vacant seats for this pilgrimage as names of the pilgrims who do not submit the money will automatically be cancelled from the quota list. Thereafter, the waiting list applicants of Ranchi and Jamshedpur districts will be accommodated in these left-out seats.”
According to the committee members, the flights for Haj from Ranchi to Jeddah will be carried out from first week of September to October 9 covering around 210 up-down flight trips. Jharkhand Haj Committee has marked 27 pilgrims in reserved category out of the total 2,873 applicants.
This Qurrah was conducted on Saturday in other States of India as well in different timings. Overall, 30 States are involved in the lottery process. Uttar Pradesh with a quota of 23,668 pilgrims has received the maximum quota compared to rest of the States due to its large Muslim population covering 30,740,158 individuals. Few of the State pilgrims who were fortunate to find their names in this Qurrah said this online lottery mode has made their ticket confirmation easier.