Gulf war to not affect Haj pilgrimage: Ansari

Ranchi: Health minister Irfan Ansari on Sunday assured pilgrims that the ongoing war in the Gulf region would not affect their Haj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.While addressing a day-long training programme of pilgrims at the Haj House in Kadru here, the minister said that he was in constant touch with govt of India and the concerned agencies, adding they have not issued any guidelines which would impact the trips.He said that this year around 1,530 Haj pilgrims would be sent from Jharkhand, adding 1,036 would board the flights from Kolkata, 250 from Mumbai and 246 from Delhi.The minister will be present in Kolkata from April 18 to 23 to see off the pilgrims from the airport.