The central government has
withdrawn the subsidy given to Haj pilgrims. Minority affairs minister Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi said the decision is in line with the government’s agenda to
empower miniorities without appeasement.
Naqvi said that for the
first time in independent India, 1.75 lakh pilgrims will go to Haj without a
subsidy, a rise from the 1.25 lakh that went for the annual pilgrimage last
year.
The union minister said the
government would save Rs 700 crore by stopping the subsidy, and would use the
funds for education of minorities, particularly girls.
The decision to abolish Haj
subsidy comes just a day after government allowed Muslim women above the age of
45 to go on the pilgrimage without a male guardian, in groups of at least four.
Naqvi also said that the
Saudi Arabian government has in principle agreed to allow Haj journey from
India by ships and officials of the two countries will sit together to finalise
the modalities.
All India Muslim Personal
Law Board’s Kamal Farooqui welcomed the move, saying that a wrong impression
was being created that Muslims were gaining from the government aid. “Instead,
it was national carrier Air India that was the biggest beneficiary of this
government scheme,” he said.
The Centre had in May last
year formed a six-member committee to look into the Haj subsidy issue in light
of a 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing subsidy
given to pilgrims by 2022, sources said.
The Supreme Court had in
2012 directed the Union government to gradually reduce and abolish Haj subsidy
by 2022. It had asked the government to invest the subsidy amount of
approximately Rs 650 crore a year then on the educational and social
development of the community
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