Increase Hajj pilgrimage quota: Jayalalithaa

Chennai, July 14 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to enhance the state's Hajj pilgrimage quota.

In a letter to Singh, Jayalalithaa said: "The Tamil Nadu State Hajj Committee this year has received more than 12,100 applications for Hajj 2012.

"The Hajj Committee of India, Mumbai, has allotted a quota of 2,863 seats for Tamil Nadu. Needless to say, this is woefully inadequate," she said.

Citing the guidelines for Hajj 2012, she said of the 2,863 seats, 1,146 will be apportioned for reserved categories and 1,717 seats dispensed for selection under the general category.

"The number of disappointed applicants will be 9,243."

She said during Hajj 2011, the Hajj Committee of India had initially allotted 3,049 seats against the receipt of more than 10,000 applications from Tamil Nadu.

"After the release of additional quota and government discretionary quota, a total of 4,084 pilgrims from this state were able to perform the Hajj pilgrimage during 2011 whereas the quota for this year is fixed as 2,863, which is an all time low," Jayalalithaa said.