Kozhikode: The Centre's announcement on Tuesday of a significant reduction in airfare for Haj pilgrims could turn out to be of little use for those from many States, especially Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, which send the largest contingents.
That the decision of the Centre to do away with the subsidies for the pilgrimage at one go may have been in line with a Supreme Court order, but a quick analysis of the Haj airfares from the previous years shows that the reduction flies in the face of the Ministry for Minority Affairs.
“Only the tariff from Ahmedabad and Mumbai has been announced by the Centre. But Air India, Saudi Airlines and Flynas (a budget airline operated from Saudi Arabia) will carry Haj pilgrims from 21 embarkation points in India. So it is uncertain if the decision will be beneficial to Kerala,” Thodiyoor Muhammed Kunju Moulavi, chairman of the Haj committee, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Last year, the subsidy in airfare was not given to pilgrims boarding from the Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderbad airports. The fares from these embarkation points were: Rs. 53,000, Rs. 59,000 and Rs. 60,000 respectively. At the same time, Guwahati was given the biggest subsidy of Rs. 49,650 while for Bengaluru, it was a meagre Rs. 1,500, the Moulavi said.
The subsidy given to pilgrims embarking from Kerala and Lakshadweep were Rs. 40,202 when the fixed air fare was Rs. 68,200 (2013); Rs. 35, 500 out of Rs. 69,900 (2014); Rs. 28, 200 out of Rs. 70,820 (2015); Rs. 15, 200 out of Rs. 60,185 (2016) and Rs. 15,750 out of Rs. 77, 812 (2017).
28/02/18 Biju Govind/The Hindu
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That the decision of the Centre to do away with the subsidies for the pilgrimage at one go may have been in line with a Supreme Court order, but a quick analysis of the Haj airfares from the previous years shows that the reduction flies in the face of the Ministry for Minority Affairs.
“Only the tariff from Ahmedabad and Mumbai has been announced by the Centre. But Air India, Saudi Airlines and Flynas (a budget airline operated from Saudi Arabia) will carry Haj pilgrims from 21 embarkation points in India. So it is uncertain if the decision will be beneficial to Kerala,” Thodiyoor Muhammed Kunju Moulavi, chairman of the Haj committee, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
Last year, the subsidy in airfare was not given to pilgrims boarding from the Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderbad airports. The fares from these embarkation points were: Rs. 53,000, Rs. 59,000 and Rs. 60,000 respectively. At the same time, Guwahati was given the biggest subsidy of Rs. 49,650 while for Bengaluru, it was a meagre Rs. 1,500, the Moulavi said.
The subsidy given to pilgrims embarking from Kerala and Lakshadweep were Rs. 40,202 when the fixed air fare was Rs. 68,200 (2013); Rs. 35, 500 out of Rs. 69,900 (2014); Rs. 28, 200 out of Rs. 70,820 (2015); Rs. 15, 200 out of Rs. 60,185 (2016) and Rs. 15,750 out of Rs. 77, 812 (2017).
28/02/18 Biju Govind/The Hindu
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