New Delhi: Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday called the recently-concluded Hajj 2026 the best in India’s history, saying a large number of pilgrims thanked the government for the arrangements.
Rijiju held a review meeting for Hajj 2027 and announced that the government will unveil a new Hajj policy in the coming days.
The minister also informed that the entire Hajj process is being integrated with AI applications.
“This year’s Hajj was the best in India’s history. Thousands of pilgrims have written to us and thanked the government. India has received two awards because of this excellent Hajj,” Rijiju said at a press conference here.
“The feedback from the 1.75 lakh pilgrims was positive… everything was executed on time. A ‘Short Duration Hajj’ was introduced for the first time, with a dedicated quota of 10,000 slots. Many people met me, and thousands of messages were received praising the magnificent management of Hajj 2026. The pilgrims expressed their gratitude to the Government of India,” the minister said.
While the traditional Hajj duration is 40–45 days, the government introduced the ‘Short Duration Hajj’ to accommodate working professionals and the elderly, reducing the total duration to between 15 and 20 days, Rijiju said.
“We have begun preparations for Hajj 2027. We will announce the new Hajj policy in a few days,” he said.
Highlighting the initiative to integrate the Hajj process with AI applications, he stated, “Our ministry has implemented a major change. We are introducing AI applications. AI will be utilised for the entire process, from accepting applications to the final completion of the pilgrimage.”
