Centre likely to restrict quota of private Haj tour operators this yr

“The Saudi government has requested to reduce the number of pilgrims by 20 per cent which,for us,means 34,000 pilgrims. We are not very keen on cutting down the number of poor people who go through the Haj Committee and hence thinking of restricting the quota of private tour operators,” Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid said. Khurshid said the Haj Committee would be meeting in the next two days and will formally decide on the steps that it needs to take.

More than 3.5 million people from all across the world go to two holy cities Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia every year to perform the annual Haj.

To control the crowd the Saudi Haj Ministry has allotted quotas to different countries. India has been allotted a quota of 1,70,000 pilgrims. Of these,1,25,000 go through the Haj Committee and 45,000 go through private tour operators.

Those going through the Haj Committee are selected by lottery with half the seats being reserved for those who are 70 plus or have applied unsuccessfully more than four consecutive times.

The Saudi government is presently undertaking major expansion work in the holy city of Mecca. The Grand Mosque is being expanded at the cost of $ 21 billion raising its capacity to accommodate 22 lakh people.

In view of the construction work the Saudi government said it would not have the capacity to cater to so many pilgrims. It will also be reducing the number of local pilgrims by 50 per cent.