Gaya de-notified as haj embarkation point amid fall in number of pilgrims

Gaya: With nearly 80% of the state’s haj quota for 2026 remaining unutilised and fewer than 100 applicants opting for Gaya as their embarkation point, the city has been de-notified.

Consequently, there will be no haj flight from Gaya this year.Gaya was notified as the state’s lone Haj embarkation point in 2003 and, except during the Covid pandemic period, pilgrims from the state had been departing from Gaya for the pilgrimage. However, a steep fall in the number of pilgrims and the option to choose from multiple embarkation points led to the decision.According to Rashid Hussain, executive officer of the Bihar State Haj Committee, fewer than 100 of the 2,648 pilgrims from the state selected Gaya.

On grounds of viability, it was de-notified. Unlike in the past, pilgrims were allowed to choose from 11 embarkation points, including Delhi and Mumbai. Earlier, Bihar pilgrims had only two options — Gaya and Kolkata.Records show that the first special haj flight from Gaya took off on Jan 21, 2003. Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the then civil aviation minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt, flagged off the inaugural flight.

In 2003, the state’s haj quota was 5,000. A decade later, it rose to 10,000 and now stands at 12,225, said Abdul Haq, chairman of the Bihar State Haj Committee.Expressing disappointment, activist Tanvir Usmani, who had been providing voluntary services at Gaya airport during departures and arrivals, said the loss of embarkation status was a setback for the state’s image and service sector. Pilgrims and their families spent considerable sums on transport, hotels and purchases.The fall in pilgrim numbers is stark. While 7,449 pilgrims from the state performed haj in 2015, only 2,648 are scheduled for 2026. Haq attributed the decline to rising costs and interstate fare disparities. In 2025, a pilgrim boarding at Delhi paid Rs 3.27 lakh, compared to Rs 4.01 lakh from Gaya.He added that the decline was not Bihar-specific. Earlier, only five states — Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam and Tripura — had fewer applicants than their quota.

Now, the number of such states has risen to 17, including UP, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.Ataur Rahman, a professor, said rising costs were not the only reason. “The quality of service provided by the Haj Committee was not up to the mark and as such many pilgrims opt for private operators who charge more but provide much better service for the pilgrimage period,” he said.