[1]The Regional Passport Office on Tuesday handed over 264 passports to Haj pilgrims, and another 139 passports have been sent by post, notching up just over 400 of 1,400 cases recommended by the Haj Committee. Regional Passport Officer K. Srikar Reddy said most applicants who did not attach the mandatory police report should get a ‘personal particulars form’ from the RPO. The applicants can submit it on Wednesday after verifying it from the police authorities concerned, he added.
Among those who received their passports for the annual pilgrim at the ‘passport adalat’ here on Tuesday were Ahmed Shareef, 68, a retired civil engineer of R&B department, and his wife Hafeez. Specifying that this would be their first Haj pilgrimage, Mr Shareef remarked, “Though there is no bar on age limit, ideally one should go for Haj before 50, when you do not have many health problems.”
But that does not deter Mukara Unissa, 80, from undertaking the holy journey. Though wheelchair-bound, she said she would go to Haj with daughter A. Fatimha, a teacher here, and her brother A. Hassan Ahmed Mohiuddin, an electrical engineer in Muscat. “This was the first stage. If we are lucky, our names might come up in the Haj Committee’s draw as well”, she said. Fellow successful applicant M.D. Kareem, 48, explained the “luck” factor: “If your name comes up in the lucky draw, the Centre pays Rs 40,000 of the total cost of Rs 1.60 lakh.”
People over 70, though, do not need to wait for the lucky draw, he added. Mr Reddy said nearly 50 cases have been registered for furnishing false documents, including verification certificates, for passports under tatkal scheme.
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