Haj subsidy Archives - Page 2 of 2

Owaisi challenges Centre to lift subsidy for Hindu pilgrims

by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics

Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad : MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday challenged the central government to stop the financial assistance and subsidy given to Hindu pilgrims in different parts of the country.

Reacting to the government’s move lifting Haj subsidy, the MP said the BJP, the RSS and others were raising a hue and cry over just Rs 200 crore and terming this as appeasement of minorities while hundreds of crores of rupees were being provided for pilgrimage and religious events in various states.

Owaisi said the Haj subsidy anyway would have been phased out by 2022 as per the order of the Supreme Court and hence there was no need for the Narendra Modi government to create a hype over this.

The Hyderabad Member of Parliament asked if the Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in the states would phase out other subsidies as well.

“I am asking the BJP, the Prime Minister and the RSS if Haj subsidy was appeasement, then what was Rs 1,150 crore allotted in 2014 for the Kumbh mela, Rs 100 crore given by the Modi government last year to Madhya Pradesh government for Simhastha maha kumbh and Rs 3,400 crore spent by Madhya Pradesh for the same.”

He said the Adityanath Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh provided Rs 800 crore for pilgrimage to Kashi, Ayodhya and other places under rejuvenation and spirituality augmentation programme.

Owaisi also challenged the Uttar Pradesh government to end Rs 1.5 lakh subsidy being given to pilgrims for Mansarovar Yatra.

“The Congress government in Karnataka is also giving Rs 20,000 to each person who undertakes pilgrimage to Char Dham. Is this not appeasement of majority,” he asked

The MP said the Rajasthan government allocated Rs 38.91 crore for Devasthan Department in 2017-18. He said the state government allocated Rs 26 crore for temple renovation and training priests.

In Gujarat, the state government for last many years has been giving money to Hindu priests. “Is this not appeasement and vote bank politics,” he asked.

“Why did the Haryana government give Rs 1 crore to Dera Sacha Sauda. Was it for electoral appeasement?”

Stating that he had been demanding eliminating Haj subsidy since 2006, Owaisi said this money should be spent on scholarship for students of Muslim minorities, especially girls.

He reiterated the demand that the scholarships being provided to minorities should be made demand-driven so that all applicants receive the scholarships.

—IANS

Government ends Haj subsidy

by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

New Delhi : The central government on Tuesday said it has decided to withdraw subsidy given to Muslims for the annual Haj pilgrimage.

Announcing the decision, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was in line with the government’s agenda to empower minorities without appeasing them.

“This is part of our policy to empower minorities with dignity and without appeasement,” Naqvi told reporters here.

He said the government would utilise the funds saved from withdrawing the subsidy for education of minorities, particularly girls.

Naqvi said the subsidy amount ranged from Rs 500-700 crore, which mainly went to the national carrier Air India that flew the pilgrims to Jeddah, along with Saudi Airlines, in a 50:50 ratio.

With the government already moving ahead with privatisation of Air India, the subsidy would not make sense, he felt.

Naqvi said the withdrawal of subsidy would not make much difference in the airfare from major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata, though it would make travel costlier from smaller cities.

“But to offset this cost hike, we have for the first time given the choice to pilgrims to select their point of embarkation. So, for example, a pilgrim from Srinagar may now embark from Delhi, or a pilgrim from Gaya may embark from Kolkata etc., to avoid extra expenses,” Naqvi said.

However, the Minister said that the government would “fulfil all its responsibilities it has towards its citizens” and would make all the arrangements for the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia apart from ensuring their safety, security and comfort.

The government had drafted the policy to abolish the Haj subsidy in phased manner after the Supreme Court asked it in 2012 to withdraw it gradually by 2022.

Last year, the government had formed a committee comprising eminent Muslims headed by retired IAS Afzal Amanullah to revise India’s Haj policy. The committee had recommended abolition of Haj subsidy and allowing women above 45 years of age to proceed on Haj without “mehram” (male guardian), among other things.

The government accepted most of the recommendations made by the committee.

This year, the highest number of Indian pilgrims are likely to go for the pilgrimage after Saudi Arabia increased India’s quota by 5,000.

A total of 1.75 lakh Indian Muslims can go for Haj this year.

—IANS