Haj Subsidy

A flight departed on Thursday morning from IGI airport to Saudi Arabia carrying a total of 285 Haj pilgrims. A total of 1,75,025 Indian pilgrims will visit Saudi Arabia under the Haj quota

Scrapping the Haj subsidy alone will do nothing to enhance India's global reputation for multiculturalism

Both Central and state governments continue to spend large sums on other pilgrimages and festivals

There should be an open process of tenders for air tickets: Muslim leaders

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was in line with the BJP government's agenda to empower minorities without appeasing them

Both Central and state governments continue to spend thousands of crores on various Hindu festivals and pilgrimages

SC asked govt to phase out the subsidy by 2022, but the govt is doing away with it in 2018 as a symbol of its "empowerment without appeasement" commitment

'"In normal days, tickets for Saudi Arabia come for Rs 32,000 but during Haj, Air India used to charge Rs 65,000 to Rs 1 lakh from those going for Haj'

Earlier this year, Naqvi had said that the govt would abolish the subsidy for Haj pilgrims in accordance with SC order