The Ministry has had a number of interactive sessions on Haj management with the stakeholders including Haj Committees of the States and Union Territories(UTs) wherein requests for restoration of Haj Quota were received. The issue was addressed under the Annual Bilateral Agreement with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for Haj 2023 and inspite of challenges of CoVID-19, the original Haj quota of the country i.e. 1,75,025 has been restored for Haj 2023. The quota earmarked for Haj Committee of India (HCoI) under the Annual Bilateral Agreement is meant for pilgrims from various States and Union Territories for Haj 2023. The increase in Haj quota has now enabled the Government to send more pilgrims from States/UTs for Haj.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.