Akhilesh Yadav wants UP quota of Haj pilgrims to be hiked

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said better facilities would be provided to Haj pilgrims this year and he would write a letter to the Centre to increase the state's quota of pilgrims.

Describing Haj quota of the state as "insufficient", the Chief Minister, after inaugurating a lottery programme for selection of pilgrims, said he would write a letter to the Centre requesting to increase it substantially.

He said construction of the Haj house in Ghaziabad would be completed in a year and land for another in Varanasi would be ready at the earliest.

The UP Chief Minister said that he would write a letter to the Centre to increase the state\'s quota of pilgrims.

Akhilesh said the previous SP government had got a Haj house constructed in Lucknow but proper attention was not paid on its maintenance in the last five years.

He said all necessary repair work would be carried out at Lucknow Haj house.

Akhilesh said that for the convenience of the pilgrims, who depart from New Delhi, the previous SP government had made efforts for constructing a house in Ghaziabad by arranging land but its construction work could not be undertaken.

Extending his wishes to pilgrims selected in the lottery, Akhilesh said that those who could not be selected due to decrease in quota should not get disappointed and they would get a chance next year.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the Haj committee and minister Azam Khan alleged the Haj House in Lucknow was a victim of mismanagement during the last five years.

He requested that Chief Minister for ordering repair and maintenance of the Haj house in Lucknow and construction of two others in Ghaziabad and Varanasi.

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