Ministry of minority affairs formed a team to scrutinize if the Haj subsidy should continue on Thursday. Headed by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the ministry is yet to declare the members of the committee.
Notably, the board has not been specified a time period to submit its report, said sources in the ministry as per a report in The New Indian Express.
The development came at a time when Saudi Arabia is raising India’s Haj quota by about 34,000. Now, a total of 1,70,025 Indians will be doing the pilgrimage.
The Haj subsidy is given to the Indian Muslims by the Government of India in the form of economical air fares on administration-owned Air India on the flights between Mumbai to Jeddah.
Under the subsidy, the fare on air travel charged per pilgrim during Haj 2014 was Rs 35,000. The actual air fare for the same ranged from Rs. 63,750 to Rs. 1,64,350 depending on the point of boarding.
Significantly, the subsidy has been there since 1954. The Haj Committee of India has announced new norms under which a pilgrim can gain the subsidy only once in a lifetime.
