NEW DELHI: The Haj Committee of India (HCoI) will appeal to the Narendra Modi government to retain the Haj subsidy until the government finalises a cheaper way for Indian Muslims to travel to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage, according to sources.
The HCoI wants the government to first finalise the modalities of going for Haj by the sea route and then scrap the Haj subsidy, sources told The New Indian Express. In a meeting called by the HCoI on Saturday, the issue of scrapping of the Haj subsidy was discussed.
“We have resolved to send a resolution to the ministry of minority affairs requesting it to not scrap the subsidy until the sea route for Haj pilgrims becomes operational. If pilgrims travel for Haj via the sea route in ships, as is being considered by the government, the cost of travel for pilgrims will come down.
Otherwise, the cost of Haj without the subsidy will hit pilgrims, especially those from the poor section of the economy,” a senior HCoI official said.
The official added that the resolution was only a suggestion and it was up to the government to accept or reject it since the government had formally announced the scrapping of the Haj subsidy from this year. Based on a 2012 Supreme Court order, the Central government has been steadily decreasing the amount of subsidy extended for the Haj pilgrimage. Until 2017, the Haj subsidy was mainly given in the form of discounted airfares to Saudi Arabia, and Air India was used for taking Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week, Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announced that the Haj subsidy would be discontinued from 2018. He said the decision was in line with the Centre’s agenda to empower minority communities “with dignity and without appeasement”.
The minister is likely to soon announce the much-awaited new Haj policy, a key feature of which is that Muslim women above 45 years of age can now go on Haj without a male companion, in a group of at least four women. Until last year, Muslim women from India were not allowed to travel without a “mehram”- male relatives they can never marry, like a brother or the father.
The HCoI had opposed immediate scrapping of the Haj subsidy earlier too.
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