Minister for Industries and Information Technology P. K. Kunhalikutty has written to the Union Minister for S. M. Krishna expressing his disappointment over the Centre not conceding State’s demand for fixing Haj quota in proportion to applicants from different States.
In a letter to the Union Minister, the Minister for Industries noted that even those in the reserve category would not be able to go on the pilgrimage this year from Kerala. He urged that if the norms for fixing quota could not be changed immediately, an increase should be effected in the overall quota by at least 10000 seats.
Mr. Kunhalikutty noted that nearly 50,000 applications had been received this year from Kerala for the pilgrimage. However, State’s quota this year was only of 6,487 seats against 8,893 lakh year. If the overall quota is increased by 10,000, at least some applicants from the general quota would be able to undertake the pilgrimage besides those in the reserved category.
