Photo - PTI
Mumbai: The government of Saudi Arabia has decided to continue the reduction of Haj pilgrim quota by 20 per cent for all the countries, including India. Unlike last year, this time the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) is also going to face the cut.
Last year, private tour operators (PTOs) had to bear the major brunt of reduction in quota as the decision of reducing the quota for Haj pilgrims was taken late and by that time the lucky draw had already been held and state Haj committees had already received advance money from the selected persons.
Though PTOs approached the Supreme Court against the decision of not sharing the equal cutback with HCoI, it was conveyed to the court that it would create a lot of problem if money taken in advance was returned. Ultimately, the PTOs faced the brunt.
Ata-ur-Rehman, the CEO of HCoI, said, “This year HCoI will also face a 20 per cent cut and after reduction only 1,00,020 seats will be available for us, which would be distributed to all the states percentage wise as per their respective Muslim population.” He added that 36,000 seats would be available for PTOs.
He also confirmed that distribution of forms for Haj 2014 had started from February 1 and the number of applications received till now has already exceeded the quota available.
According to him there are two reserved categories for pilgrims, one for those aged above 70 and the other for those filing applications consecutively for the fourth year. Hence, there would be lesser seats available for general category.
“In fact, in many cities, the lucky draw is conducted in reserved categories also. Though this situation was not present in Maharashtra, but we cannot say anything for this year till we receive all the applications,” he added.
The Saudi government?s decision for reducing the quota was taken as the expansion work of Masjid Al Haram in Mecca is underway to tackle the rush.
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