Kerala seeks higher Hajj quota

Monday, April 30, 2012: Kerala has requested the Centre to enhance its Hajj quota by determining the number of pilgrims to be flown to Mecca on the basis of total number of applicants from each state.
In a request to External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Industries Minister PK Kunhalikutty had said only a fraction of the total applicants from Kerala would be able to perform the pilgrimage under the present system of deciding each state’s share on the basis of its population.
This year, a record 49,868 people had applied to the state Hajj Committee. A vast majority of them would not be able to go to Mecca under the present system of awarding state quota based on population, Kunhalikutty said. Last year, Kerala had 42,156 Hajj aspirants but only 8,893 people were selected.
There are states where the total applicants would be much less compared to Kerala despite they having a higher quota. This anomaly could be rectified if the number of applications was made the basic criterion for deciding the quota for each state, he said.