KCR demands 2,000 more Haj slots for Hyd

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has demanded increase in quota for Haj pilgrims of Telangana State.In a letter to Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, KCR complained that the Telangana State has been allocated meager quota for the Haj, this year.

KCR urged Sushma to intervene personally and use her discretion to allot additional quota of 2,000 slots to Hyderabad city and do justice to the people of the state."I am informed that during the previous year, the quota of slots allotted to the then combined state of Andhra Pradesh was 5,580," he said.

"It is very surprising that the quota has been reduced to 4945 slots (2700 and 2245 slots allotted to Telangana and AP, respectively). The demand in Telangana for Haj seats is very high. As many as 15,419 persons applied for 1,223 slots left open after reservation, i.e., more than 12 persons vied for every slot. The position in Hyderabad is more acute as 23 persons applied for every slot available," said the Chief Minister.

KCR said that the situation in Andhra Pradesh is comfortable as there is one slot for less than two persons. "It is clear that the demand and availability of Haj slots in Telangana is five times higher than Andhra Pradesh and non-availability of adequate slots to Telangana Muslims has led to widespread disappointment," he said.