The Indian Haj Mission in Saudi Arabia deserves praise for conducting a smooth and successful Haj for Indian pilgrims. Arrangements for pilgrims have improved and the whole mechanism has been streamlined over the past several years. As we know, Haj is not a gathering of people at one place but a huge movement of people between different locations like Madina, Makkah, Mina, Muzdalifa and Arafat. Handling a growing number of pilgrims every year and making arrangement for their housing, transportation, medical and other necessities in a foreign country is a Herculean task. There have been lapses, as pointed out by some Indian Hajis but we must not overlook prevailing situations. All of us know that due to construction work in the holy cities of Makkah and Madina, the nearby hotels and places of accommodation have been demolished and the rates of hotels has almost doubled. So the Indian pilgrims had to be accommodated in Aziziah district due to the paucity of accommodation near the Haram and to financial constraints. The transport vehicles deployed by the Indian Haj Mission to ferry the pilgrims from Aziziah to Haram sometimes stuck in the traffic jams. These are some observations that must be taken into consideration in planning for the next Haj. There is a lot of areas for improvement. Nearly 3,161,573 million pilgrims from 189 countries visit the Kingdom for Haj and it is not an easy task to provide accommodation to all pilgrims at a place of their choice. Our highest appreciation goes to Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao, Consul General of India Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, chairperson of the Indian Haj Committee Mohsina Kidwai and Indian Haj Volunteers of IPWF, IISJ school, Indian Fraternity Forum and Risala study circle for making this year's Haj a huge success. The dedication and creative management of Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh, Deputy Consul General and Consul (Haj) at the Consulate General of India, was commendable. Mir Gazanfar Ali Zaki, Jeddah
