Haj Committee of India releases state-wise quota for Hajj 2019
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister of Minorities, has requested the Saudi government to increase India’s quota by 20,000
[Haj vintage and rare photos. Pilgrims arriving for Hajj by plane. (1953 Haj File Photo)
Mumbai: The Haj Committee of India on Friday released state-wise allocation of seats for Hajj 2019. The state-wise distribution of seats has been done based on the percentage of Muslim population in various state of the country.
The Haj Committee of India distributed its total quota of 175,025 seats to pilgrims going to Haj through it. Accordingly, a total of 125,025 pilgrims will go through the Haj Committee of India and the remaining 50,000 seats have been allotted to Private Tour Operators (PTOs).
“The quota allocated to various States and Union Territory Haj Committees for the pilgrims of Haj 1440 (H) – 2019 has been calculated as per the percentage of Muslim population of 2011 Census”, the Haj Committee of India CEO Dr Maqsood Ahmed Khan said while releasing the 2019 Haj quota.
Jammu & Kashmir has been granted a Special Haj Quota of 2000 whereas States/Union Territories that received less than 500 Hajj Application Forms (HAF) have been alloteed a total quota of 887 seats. A total of 2,340 seats have been reserved for Ladies without Mehram. Of them 61 seata have been considered under quota States/Union Territories.
According to statewise Haj 2019 qouta, the Haj Committee of India has received a total of 267,261 Haj Application Forms (HAF) from 31 Indian states. The number of application received this year has drastically reduced due to various reasons. But, it is still more than the double of India’s Haj Quota allotted by Saudi Government.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister of Minorities, has requested the Saudi government to increase India’s quota by 20,000. However a final decision on this is yet to be taken.
Jammu & Kashmir with special quota of 2000 will have a total quota of 9,762 pilgrims. A total of 22,389 applications have been received by the J&K State Haj Committee for 6,163 seats.
Likewise, Lakshadeep with a special quota of 297 will have a total of 342 Hajj pilgrims. Number of applications in Lakshadeep is 342 but it has a quota of only 45..
Uttar Pradesh with Muslim population of 3,84,83,967 has been allocated a quota of 30,237 pilgrims. But, number of applications received by the Uttar Pradesh State Haj Committee is 34,397.
West Bengal, Bihar and Assam are next after Uttar Pradesh in terms of Muslim population. While West Bengal, with a Muslim population of 2,64,54,825, has been allocated a quota of 8,470 seats, Bihar having a Muslim population of 1,75,57,809, has been allocated a final quota of 4,950.
Assam, which has a Muslim population of 1,09,10,451, has been allocated a final quota of 3,588 Haj pilgrims. Assam also included Muslims of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Mizoram.
The original quota of West Bengal, Bihar and Assam are 17,735, 12,630 and 7,848 respectively. But, since total applications received by these states are less than their allocated quota, their original quota is reduced and the surplus seats are allocated to other states.
Jharkhand, Punjab and Tripura are other three states where number of applications are less than their allocated quotas.
Maharashtra with a Muslim population of 1,29,71,152 have received a total of 35,658 applications, but it’s final quota is just 11,907.
The maximum number of applications has been received by Kerala. The state has a Muslim population of 88,73,472 and has been allocated a quota of 11,472. But, the state has received a whopping 43,115 applications.
A total of 500 seats have already been allotted to Mehram. The final list of 1,23,400 haj pilgrims out of the total 267,261 applicants will be released after draw i.e. Hajj Qurrah which is held by respective Haj Committees.
The Haj 2019 Qurrah by different State Haj Committees was supposed to be held in the last week of December. It is however delayed due to extension of Hajj application last date.
