CHENNAI — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Saturday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to enhance the Haj pilgrimage quota taking into account the sizeable Muslim population and the large number of applications received from the state in 2012. “The Tamil Nadu State Haj Committee this year has received more than 12,100 applications for Haj 2012. The Haj Committee of India, Mumbai, has allotted a quota of 2,863 seats for Tamil Nadu. Needless to say, this is woefully inadequate", she said in a letter to Singh. Pointing out that in 2011, the Haj Committee of India had initially allotted a quota of 3,049 seats against more than 10,000 applications received from pilgrims in Tamil Nadu, she said after the release of additional quota. “The quota for this year is fixed at 2,863 only, which is an all time low", she said. “I therefore, request your kind intervention to enhance the quota taking into account the sizable Muslim population in Tamil Nadu", she said. — Agencies
