The AIMPLB said the decision to end Haj subsidy is meaningless as there was no such concession
New Delhi: There will be no subsidy for Haj from this year and the funds saved will be used for providing education to minorities, minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Tuesday, while projecting the move as an effort by the government to “empower minorities” without appeasement.
The minister also said a record number of 1.75 lakh Muslims will undertake the pilgrimage this year from India despite the subsidy withdrawal.
“There will be no subsidy on Haj now,” he told reporters, adding that the government had spent over `250 crore last year on subsidising the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Saudi Arabia. The decision is in line with a 2012 Supreme Court order, asking the government to do away with the subsidy, a long standing demand of the BJP.
The BJP had cited the subsidy as an example of “Muslim appeasement” by parties such as the Congress. Following the order, the subsidy was being gradually reduced every year. “It is part of the Modi government’s efforts to empower minorities with dignity and without appeasement,” Naqvi said.
The funds would be utilised for providing education to minorities, he said.
Asked if the subsidy withdrawal will make the cost of the pilgrimage too high for many Muslims, Naqvi said the government was making efforts to bring it down.
The Saudi Arabian government has agreed to allow Indians to go on Haj by the sea route and officials of the two countries will work out the modalities, he said. Naqvi said his ministry is also organising an event in Lucknow January 18 in which he and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will speak on “empowering minorities without appeasement” with the help of central schemes. Minority affairs ministers of nine states will also attend the event, he added.
Reacting cautiously to the government’s decision, the Congress said it hopes that the Modi government will honour the apex court’s direction and utilise this money for the education and development of the disempowered among the minorities, including young girls. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said the government’s decision on revoking Haj subsidy has no meaning as there was no such concession and Muslims were being cheated in its name. Welcoming the Centre’s decision, the Vishva Hindu Parishad said the money saved from it should be utilised for the education of poor Hindu girls.
According to sources in the minority affairs ministry, till 2017, the notional savings following gradual abolition of subsidy since 2012 was to tune of `636.56 crore. In case, the government had chosen to reduce the subsidy gradually till 2022, the total national savings would have have been around `5970.6 crore, the sources said.
Haj pilgrims from certain regions will have an additional option to choose from where they want to fly to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage; Naqvi said and claimed that this would bring down the cost by up to 70 per cent on some routes.