Restore quota and travel expenses of Haj pilgrims: Congress

The Congress has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking restoration of quota and travel expenses for Haj pilgrims.

“Even the dream of Muslims wanting to go on a Haj pilgrimage has faded away,” said Naseem Khan, Working President, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

"The central government was giving concessions to Haj pilgrims but the BJP government at the Centre has reduced the quota of Haj pilgrims and increased the cost of the pilgrimage,” he said and urged Modi to personally look into the issue and restore the quota of pilgrims and reduce the cost to give relief to the Muslim brothers.

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In a letter to Modi, Khan, a former minister in the erstwhile Democratic Front government, said that the people going for Haj through the Central Haj Committee are poor and economically disadvantaged.

“Till 2019, 2 lakh people were sent for Haj every year through the Central Haj Committee and the cost for them was less than Rs 2.9 lakh, including the cost of Qurbani and out of this amount, 2100 Saudi Riyal which is Rs 45,000 and one more VIP bag is given to the pilgrim,” he said.

However, he said that since 2023, the Central Haj Committee has reduced the quota of Haj pilgrims to 1.5 lakh and the Haj Committee has increased the fee to Rs 3.7 lakh, excluding the amount for Qurbani.

“Those going through Nagpur and Aurangabad have to pay Rs 70,000-Rs 80,000 more than the cost of Haj from Mumbai. This increased cost is unfair and hurts the general public of the Muslim community,” he said.

Khan said while discussing this with the officials of the Central Haj Committee, it was said that this committee does not have the authority but the ministry has the authority. It is the feeling of the Muslim community that once in a lifetime Haj is done, life becomes worthwhile. “Common Haj pilgrims are being looted by private companies as the central government has reduced the Haj quota,” he said and pointed out that that air fares are being charged high, there is a big racket behind this and the pilgrims are being cheated.