Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Sep 20: MLA, U T Khader, said that union external affairs minister, S M Krishna, had told him that the central government will be initiating steps to ensure that the Haj pilgrims will not face inconveniences on account of problems like delayed flights and cancellations.

“Many a time, the Haj pilgrims face food and lodging problems while undertaking onward and return journeys, whenever their flights are cancelled or delayed. I had brought these issues to the notice of the external affairs minister. The minister has promised me to instruct the flight operators to undertake the responsibility of providing food and accommodation to the Haj pilgrims whenever their flights get delayed by over two hours ,” he said in a statement. Khader had taken the initiative to discuss the problems with the minister, in view of some problems the Haj pilgrims had faced last year.

Khader also said that he had requested Krishna to appoint advocates hailing from Coastal Karnataka and Kerala in the Indian embassies in the Gulf countries, to help the people from these regions. The other issue he had raised during his meeting was the problems faced by the people in the Mangalore Passport Facilitation Centre.

The MLA said that he had thanked the external affairs minister and Praful Patel, civil aviation minister, for arranging for direct flights for the Haj pilgrims from the city, and for having allowed the Haj pilgrims to organize camps in the old airport building.