NEW DELHI – There will be no subsidy for Hajj from this year, Indian Minority Affairs Minister, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday.
Naqvi told reporters that despite the subsidy withdrawal, a record number of 1.75 lakh Muslims will undertake the pilgrimage this year from India. “This is part of our policy to empower minorities with dignity and without appeasement,” Naqvi told reporters.
Naqvi also said that the Saudi Arabian government has in-principle agreed to allow Hajj journey from India by ships and officials of the two countries will sit together to finalise the modalities.
In November last year, Naqvi had said that the Centre would abolish the subsidy for Hajj pilgrims in accordance with a Supreme Court order.
“A Constitutional Bench of the Indian Supreme Court had, during the Congress regime in 2012, directed that the Hajj subsidy be done away with. Hence, in the new policy, as per the recommendations of a committee, we have decided to do away with the Hajj subsidy gradually,” he had said.
