New Delhi.
The central government has completely eliminated the subsidy given to Muslims for Haj pilgrimage. In the year 2012, the Supreme Court gave ten years to end the Haj subsidy. In the last five years, it had dropped to just 25% and had to be completely eliminated in 2022 but the Modi government has taken a big step and has finished it in one stroke.
Significantly, since 2006, a Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Ministry and Transport and Tourism had suggested to end the Haj subsidy within a time limit. Despite this, the government did not end the Haj subsidy.
After that, the Supreme Court criticized the government’s subsidy for Haj pilgrimage and asked to end it. In 2012, the court ordered it to end gradually over a period of 10 years. Since then, there has been a reduction in the subsidy from government continuously. The money that was released by the government before 2012. That year has decreased year after year.
According to Ministry of Minority Welfare, in 2012, Haj subsidy of Rs 836.55 crores was given. Since then, the burden of persistent subsidy was less than the government’s head. In the next year ie 2013, the central government has reduced the subsidy of Rs 680.03 crore, while cutting it by more than half a crore. In 2014, more than 100 crores of this amount was reduced and the subsidy was Rs 577.07 crores. In 2015, the subsidy decreased by 50 crore, now the amount has reduced to Rs 529.51 crore. In 2016, the government had given Rs 405 crore as Haj subsidy ie the amount of subsidy reduced from 836 to about halfway. According to the PTI report, in 2017 only Haj subsidy of 250 crore was given and now 2018, the Haj subsidy has been completely eliminated by the Modi government.
