Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The newly appointed chairman of the Haj Committee of India has said that streamlining the Haj affairs will be his priority. Talking to Saudi Gazette on the phone from India on Sunday after his election, Mehboob Ali Kaiser said that the Haj committee will be meeting in Mumbai between July 13 and 22 to discuss the arrangements made for Indian pilgrims. "For this year everything has been finalized. But we will try and minimize the shortcomings in the arrangements of accommodation and transportation," said Kaiser, who is the only elected Muslim face of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in parliament. "We are committed to providing pilgrims with the best services and facilities," he said. Kaiser, who has been elected to parliament from Khagaria constituency in Bihar on Lok Janshakti Party's ticket, said that the 23-member Haj panel has a mix of experience and youth. The new chairman said that he is planning to visit Jeddah after the Mumbai meeting on July 20-22 before the arrival of the first Indian Haj flight on Aug. 4. Kaiser, who served as as minister for science and technology and minister of higher education in Bihar, admitted that the Haj Committee of India is being shifted from the Ministry of External Affairs to the Ministry of Minority Affairs. "We will also discuss this move, and see whether this is in the interest of pilgrims," he said. Kaiser served as All-India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary from 2007 to 2010 and as president of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee from 2010 to 2013. He left Congress just before the 2014 parliamentary elections to join Ram Vilas Paswans's LJP. He said that Haj subsidy was a "misnomer." "We buy 170,000 air tickets in bulk. We should get subsidy on air tickets on bulk buying. Air fare for pilgrims will further come down if it is properly handled," said Kaiser.
