SL requests increase in Hajj pilgrim quota

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Sri Lanka requested Saudi Arabian authorities to increase the annual Hajj pilgrim quota from 2800 at present to 6000.

Deputy Minister for Environment and Hajj Committee co-Chairman Abdul Cader, currently in Saudi Arabia said he made the request on behalf of Sri Lanka yesterday from Saudi authorities and they agreed to look into it.

Speaking to the Daily News from 'Jeddah' the Deputy Minister said there was a strong possibility that Saudi Arabian authorities

would increase the quota enabling more Sri Lankan devotees to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca this year.

The Deputy Minister said he delivered a letter from Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne who is also in charge of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj Affairs seeking an increase in the annual Hajj pilgrim quota.