Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi asking for a surplus Hajj quota so that more people can go on the pilgrimage this year. Reportedly, 15,032 people have applied for pilgrimage at Tamil Nadu State Hajj Committee in 2015. Indian Hajj committee, Mumbai have allocated only quota of 2585 seats to Tamil Nadu this year. 1699 pilgrims are selected on reservation basis and the rest are selected under general category. This means that more than 12,000 people will face disappointment even when Central Government had allocated extra seats at the start of this year because of which more people could go on the pilgrimage.
Similarly, 3696 and 2858 people went on pilgrimage in the year 2013 and 2014 respectively. Currently, West Bengal and Maharasthra have the maximum number of quota allocation for the pilgrims.In 2012, 12,417 people applied for the quota out of which 11,651 were accepted. Therefore, it would be a big relief for the people of Tamil Nadu if surplus Hajj quota is granted to the state.