Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 16
The Central government has done away with the subsidy for pilgrims on Haj. Ministry of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday said 1.75 lakh Muslims, highest ever number, would go on Haj this year.
Naqvi said: “There will be no subsidy for Haj from this year and despite the withdrawal, a record number of 1.75 lakh Muslims will undertake the pilgrimage this year from India."
He said the removal of the subsidy would not affect the pilgrims. He said the subsidy would now be used for the education of minorities, particularly girls.
“This is part of our policy to empower minorities with dignity and without appeasement,” he said.
He said Rs 700 crore was the subsidy given for Haj when the BJP government came to power. He said that the main beneficiary of the subsidy was Air India.
Naqvi said that the Saudi Arabian government has in principle agreed to allow Haj journey from India by ships and officials of the two countries would sit together to finalise the modalities.
Earlier this year, Naqvi had said that the Centre would abolish the subsidy for Haj pilgrims in accordance with a Supreme Court order.
“A constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had, during the Congress regime in 2012, directed that the Haj subsidy be done away with. Hence, in the new policy, as per the recommendations of a committee, we have decided to do away with the Haj subsidy gradually," he had said. With PTI inputs