Ministry of Civil Aviation provides subsidy for air travel to the pilgrims through the Haj Committee of India. The amount on air travel charged per pilgrim during Haj 2014 was Rs. 35,000/- whereas the actual air fare ranged from Rs. 63,750 to Rs. 1,63,350 depending on the embarkation point in India. For Haj-2015, an amount of Rs. 42,000/- will be charged as airfare from each pilgrim performing Haj through HCOI.
The subsidy amount extended was Rs.836.56 crores in 2012 to Rs. 680.03 crores in 2013. In 2014, it has further reduced to Rs. 533 crores.
The Haj pilgrims pay for the expenses incurred on air passage, accommodation, local transport within Saudi Arabia and food in Madinah etc. Haj Committee of India meets the costs of the Haj pilgrimage through the payments made by the pilgrims. No other external grant is provided by the Ministry of External Affairs to Haj Committee of India.
Why is the subsidy amount decreasing?
The Supreme Court has directed in 2012 that the subsidy on air travel should be phased out in ten years. In this judgment, the Supreme Court observed that the subsidy amount was increasing every year and it increased from 10.51 crore in 1994 to 685 crore in 2011.
The Supreme Court also directed the government to phase out the subsidy and eliminate it in 10 years quoting from the Holy Quran that only those who afford should go on the Haj Pilgrimage. The court also observed that this amount could be better utilized for the upliftment of the Muslim community.
In the same case, the court passed another order in 2013 in which the number of Haj seats under VIP quota (Discretionary quota) to dignitaries has been restricted to 500 seats as per details below.
• Hon'ble President of India : 100 seats
• Hon'ble Vice-President of India : 75 seats
• Hon'ble Prime Minister of India : 75 seats
• Hon'ble External Affairs Minister : 50 seats
• Haj Committee of India : 200 seats
Rakesh Dubbudu has been working on issues related to Right to Information (RTI) for a decade. He is a Data/Information enthusiast & passionate about Governance/Policy issues.
