CALICUT, 12 August 2005 — The Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy has sought the help of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that all applicants who are in the waiting list for this year’s Haj are given clearance.
The appeal came following the allotment made by the Kerala Haj Committee here yesterday that cut out half of the applicants on the waiting list. Out of the 12,988 applicants, only 6,806 got clearance under the quota system followed by the Central Haj Committee.
Pilgrims aged 50 and above were given preference and their names were not included in the draw. The original share for Kerala, which stands at 4,452, was raised to the present figure after adding the shares of some other states, where applicants are less than the prescribed quota.
Kerala’s Minister for Haj and Wakf V.K. Ibrahim Kunju said the government has taken note of the situation and efforts will be made so that no applicant will lose their chance of performing Haj this year. He added that the Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Edappakath Ahmad had given the government an assurance in this regard.
