New Delhi, March 15: Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan today stressed the need to do away with subsidy to manage the annual Haj pilgrimage and instead have a corporation to manage Haj affairs.
Participating in a discussion on the working of the Ministry of Minority Affairs in the House, Mr Khan said, “Muslims had never asked for subsidy. Rather, there is need for reforms.”
He said the subsidy began as a means to facilitate air travel for Haj pilgrims when ships for travel were not available but had assumed huge proportions.
Agreeing with the view of BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who had said yesterday that the subsidy was nothing but a cross subsidisation of Air India, Mr Khan said,”for a Haj trip as much as Rs 85,000 is charged by Air India which in normal course costs not more than Rs 35,000.”
Mr Khan also appealed to the Ministry of Minority Affairs to have a vision for the Waqf properties. “There is a need for an institutional mechanism for development
of Waqf properties. There is a need to empower the Muslims to stand on their own legs,” he said.
–UNI