Madhya Pradesh State Haj Committee (MPSHC) Chairman Sannawwar Patel in a letter to President of India Pranab Mukherjee urged to cancel the Haj quota of Private Tour Operators (PTOs) in view of Saudi Arabian Government’s move to slash 20 per cent quota for India.
Patel apprised the President that the quota for the country set by Saudi Arabia government was 1,36,020 that has been cut short by 20 per cent due to some difficulties faced by Saudi Arabia Government. Of the total quota 36,000 seats are given to the PTOs and rest is allotted to the State Governments.
The PTOs quota is utilised by rich people who need to go through any procedure, they just need to have thick bank balances and that all, whereas those applying through the State Governments have to went through lottery for getting chance to fulfil their lifetime pilgrimage wish, he added.
He said that hence it has been demanded that in view of the Saudi Arabia Government’s move to cut short 20 per cent quota, the State Governments should not be worried as through them only those persons goes for the pilgrimage who are really interested, not for those who goes through PTOs for prompt and show.
“Moreover the State Government’s follow transparent system of lottery for the
pilgrims, many of the Haj aspirants get chance after applying for 2-3 years, hence
your intervention is sought so that in the name of quota cutting the poor should not be axed as they gets chance with very difficulty after passing through a transparent system instead PTOs quota should be reduced,” he added.
Besides, the MPSC chairman also urged President Mukherjee to raise the issue with the Saudi Government for not cutting the quota as the prevailing quota to India is already very less compared to other countries.