Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has appealed to the Union government to provide Kerala with sufficient Haj quota.
The number of applications for Haj pilgrimage was substantial and that the quota allotted to the State should be in keeping with this, he said at the inauguration of a Haj camp on the Cochin International Airport premises at Nedumbassery on Saturday. He also said that the State government had brought the State’s requirement to the Union government’s notice.
The first batch of Haj pilgrims this season will take off from the Cochin airport in the early hours of Sunday, said a press release here.
The Chief Minister said that the Kerala model of preparation for the Haj pilgrimage was an example to other States.
The pilgrims have been provided with preventive medicines too, he said. A total of 1.25 lakh pilgrims will undertake the pilgrimage this year from across India. Of these, 11,800 will leave from Nedumbassery. From among those leaving via Nedumbassery are 305 from Lakshwadeep and 32 from Mahe, the press release added.
