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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

minority youth and scholarships to
1.83 crore students, to drive home his
claim. According to Naqvi, a record
number of 1.75 lakh Muslims will
undertake the pilgrimage this year from
Doing Away with Haj Subsidy India despite the subsidy withdrawal.
He said the government had spent over
Rs 250 crore in 2016 on subsidising
The AIMPLB said the government’s decision on revoking Haj subsidy has no the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to
meaning as there was no such concession and Muslims were being cheated in Saudi Arabia.
its name —By Zafri Mudasser Nofil When asked if the subsidy
withdrawal will make the cost of the
pilgrimage too high for many Muslims,
Finally, there won’t be any subsidy for removed as it was actually being used Naqvi said the government was making
Haj from this year. This was bound to only to sustain Air India.
efforts to bring it down. The Saudi
happen as the Supreme Court had in If tickets are booked well in
Arabian government has agreed to
2012 directed the government to advance, the trip would cost much
allow Indians to go on Haj by the sea
eliminate Haj subsidy within a period lesser than what Air India charges as route and officials of the two countries
of 10 years, saying that this amount subsidised fares, many argue as they will work out the modalities, he said.
can be used for social and educational feel that the subsidy was really meant Haj pilgrims from certain regions will
development of Muslims. for Air India and not for those going on
GOVERNMENT’S STAND ON HAJ Haj. In 2016-17, the Centre had only have an additional option to choose
ISSUE allocated Rs 450 crore for Haj. In fact, from where they want to fly to Saudi
Arabia for the annual pilgrimage, Naqvi
It had also ordered the government to said and claimed that this would bring
stop sending a large official goodwill down the cost by up to 70 per cent on
Haj delegation, which was “unwieldy, In Brief some routes. There are a total of 21
amorphous and randomly” selected.
 There won’t be any subsidy Haj embarkation points (EPs) in the
“We are also not oblivious of the fact
for Haj from this year. country — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
that in many other purely religious
 SC had in 2012 directed the Chennai, Bengaluru, Lucknow,
events there are direct and indirect Hyderabad, Cochin, Indore, Srinagar,
deployment of state funds and state govt to eliminate subsidy Bhopal, Guwahati, Mangaluru,
resources. Nevertheless, we are of the within a period of 10 yrs. Aurangabad, Varanasi, Jaipur, Nagpur,
view that Haj subsidy is something that  It had also ordered the govt Ranchi, Gaya, Ahmedabad and Goa.
is best done away with,” a bench of to stop sending a large official
Haj aspirants — for whom the 10
justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana goodwill Haj delegation. airports of Srinagar, Guwahati, Ranchi,
Prakash Desai had said.  In 2016-17, the Centre had Gaya, Indore, Bhopal, Mangaluru, Goa,
In 2011-12, the Centre used to foot only allocated Rs450 crore for Aurangabad and Varanasi are the
an amount of Rs 38,000 per person as Haj. nearest EPs - will now get an additional
subsidised airfare to those going for  The subsidy amount has economical option to fly from.
pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia through the VARIED INTERPRETATIONS
been decreasing since 2012.
Haj committees. “We, therefore, direct
The pilgrims from Jammu and
the central government to Kashmir, whose nearest EP is Srinagar,
progressively reduce the amount of can opt to travel from Delhi now,
subsidy so as to completely eliminate the subsidy amount has been helping them save on (per head) airfare.
it within a period of 10 years from decreasing since 2012, when the In 2017, the airfare for the pilgrimage
today. The subsidy money may be more Supreme Court ruled that the subsidy
from Srinagar was Rs 1,09,692 as
profitably used for uplift of the be phased out in 10 years.
against Rs 73,697 from Delhi.
community in education and other On January 16, 2018, Union Similarly, aspirants whose basic EPs
indices of social development,” the Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar are Guwahati, Ranchi and Gaya will
bench had observed. Abbas Naqvi announced the abolition have the alternative of undertaking the
Also the government’s decision is of Haj subsidy and said the funds journey from Kolkata. Those having
been seen by many as something that saved will be used for providing
Indore, Bhopal, Goa and Aurangabad
has no meaning as they say there was education to minorities. Trying to
as the nearest airports, can opt for
no such subsidy and Muslims were project the move as an effort by the flying from Mumbai.
being cheated in its name. All India government to “empower minorities” Those with Varanasi as the basic
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader without appeasement, Naqvi also cited airport can choose Lucknow as their
Asaduddin Owaisi has for long been a host of measures, such as providing
demanding that the subsidy be jobs and job opportunities to 8.5 lakh (Contd on page 27)

24 Competition Wizard March 2018