The Supreme Court has done well to slam the Union Government over the dubious manner in which the latter has been handling the Haj pilgrimage, often adding politics to a purely religious purpose. It is amazing that the Government was able to get away with such a brazen act so far, but now with the apex court taking strong note, it will have to fall in line. At a time when genuine Indian pilgrims that go for Haj continue to face a number of difficulties, including blatant exploitation by private tour operators, the Union Government has had the temerity to attach a team of politicians supposedly on an official trip to Saudi Arabia, as part of the Haj package. In other words, the official delegation benefits from an all-expense paid trip for the Haj. Such was the apex court’s anger that it has decided to oversee the Union Government’s Haj policy itself for the following year. The review was not on the table of the learned judges, but now that they are desirous of doing so, it must be whole-heartedly welcomed. There are several issues that have rankled genuine Haj pilgrims for years, and those include the facilities the Government provides to help them make the trip. After the Union Government fills the quota of 1.25 lakh pilgrims that it sponsors as part of an agreement with Saudi Arabia, it leaves the rest — numbering more than 45,000 pilgrims — in the lurch and to their own devices. It effectively means that these lesser-privileged pilgrims have to tie up with private operators who extract exorbitant amounts to help them make the journey. The Union Government must take up the Supreme Court’s suggestion that it should review the subsidy presently been given for the pilgrimage. The subsidy matter has for long been a bone of contention, with some calling it unfair and others claiming it to be insufficient. A general complaint has been that even the subsidised airfare — a large component of the subsidy is in form of a lower priced flight ticket — is high enough to deter many from making the trip.
In fact, such has been the frustration that prominent Muslim leaders a few years ago asked the Union Government to scrap the subsidy altogether and create a corpus out of contributions from potential pilgrims that would fund the annual trip. This, they said, was in line with the Malaysian model, which was functioning rather smoothly. In response, the Prime Minister had constituted a panel to study the issue of an alternative financing mechanism. But nothing substantial appears to have emerged from that exercise.
Source: The Pioneer
In fact, such has been the frustration that prominent Muslim leaders a few years ago asked the Union Government to scrap the subsidy altogether and create a corpus out of contributions from potential pilgrims that would fund the annual trip. This, they said, was in line with the Malaysian model, which was functioning rather smoothly. In response, the Prime Minister had constituted a panel to study the issue of an alternative financing mechanism. But nothing substantial appears to have emerged from that exercise.
Source: The Pioneer
