Haj rule changed- Women can now travel without company of male

New Delhi, Dec 24: As the rule for Haj has changed, women applicants have increased. A record of 1,244 Indian women have applied to for Haj next year after the NDA government allowed the women to travel without male relative company.

Haj rule strictly asked the women to undertake he pilgrimage along with any male relative, but after the rule is changed, women can travel alone.

Officials in the minority affairs ministry said of the 1,244 applications from single women, 1,016 applications have been accepted so far.

The recommendation to allow women-only groups to apply for Haj was made by the Afzal Amanullah panel constituted to review the earlier Haj policy. The panel's recommendation was accepted by the Narendra Modi government in October.

"There are many schools of thought on this (women going alone) but the religion per se doesn't prohibit it. So I decided to make the recommendation," Amanullah said.