In election year, Modi govt doesn't reduce Haj boarding points below 21

The Ministry of Civil Aviation's tender notice, published on December 24, retains the number of boarding points for pilgrims at 21 cities across the country for the Haj pilgrimage between July and September 2019. The committee to review the previous Haj Policy (2013-17) had suggested reducing the boarding points from 21 to nine.

But India’s new Haj policy 2018-22, released last year, stated that 21 embarkation or boarding points for flights to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage would be retained only for 2018, without specifying on the issue for 2019 and subsequent years.  

The new Haj policy released in November 2017 states,