Lok Sabha Question No. 148 (STARRED), answered on 2017-07-26
Subject: Haj Pilgrimage
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: GEETHA KOTHAPALLI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 148

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2017

## Haj Pilgrimage

## *148.  SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government  has received proposals/ applications for Haj Pilgrimage during the current year;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof and the number of proposals/ applications received / admitted/ rejected and the present status thereof, State/ UT-wise particularly from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; and
- (c)  the financial assistance presently being provided to the Haj pilgrim?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a) to (c)  A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.148 FOR 26.07.2017 RAISED BY SHRIMATI

KOTHAPALLI GEETHA REGARDING HAJ PILGRIMAGE (a) to (c) Haj Committee of India, a statutory organization under the Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  invited  applications  from  intending  Haj pilgrims  from  02.01.2017  to  06.02.2017.  The  total  number  of  Haj applications received in the Haj Committee of India was 4,48,266, out of which 1,23,700 pilgrims have been  selected for Haj 2017. The State/Union Territory-wise applications received and number of pilgrims selected  including  for  Andhra  Pradesh  and  Telangana  is  given  in Annexure. The expenditure towards Haj is borne by the pilgrims themselves. No financial assistance is given directly to the Haj pilgrims. However for air travel  of  pilgrims,  the  Ministry  of  Civil  Aviation  makes  air  chartering arrangements through a bidding process among the Indian and Saudi airlines.  The  airfare  for  each  embarkation  points  is  arrived  at  through the bidding process. In order to mitigate air travel costs for Haj pilgrims, Ministry  of  Civil  Aviation  provides  subsidy  (popularly  known  as  Haj subsidy)  which  is  the  difference  between  actual  airfare  discovered through bidding process and the fixed uniform amount charged by Haj Committee of India towards airfare. This subsidy is paid directly to the airlines and per unit subsidy differs from embarkation point to embarkation point. The Supreme Court, while dealing with the Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.28609  of  2011  vide  its  judgment  dated  08.05.2012,  inter  alia observed that the Haj subsidy is something that is best done away with and  directed  the  central  Government  to  progressively  reduce  the amount  of  subsidy  so  as  to  completely  eliminate  it.  Accordingly,  Haj subsidy has been gradually reduced from Rs.836.56 in the year 2012 to

Rs. 405 crore in the year 2016.

- *****

| Sr.No   | Name of States/ Union Territory   | No of Applications   |   Final Quota |
|---------|-----------------------------------|----------------------|---------------|
| 1       | 2                                 | 3                    |             4 |
| 1       | Andaman & Nicobar (UT)            | 115                  |            52 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                    | 3390                 |          2728 |
| 3       | Assam (*)                         | 4279                 |          4279 |
| 4       | Bihar                             | 6963                 |          6963 |
| 5       | Chandigarh (UT)                   | 91                   |            82 |
| 6       | Chattisgarh                       | 1374                 |           388 |
| 7       | Dadra nagar Haveli (UT)           | 33                   |            21 |
| 8       | Daman & Diu (UT)                  | 27                   |            27 |
| 9       | Delhi (NCT)                       | 10228                |          1628 |
| 10      | Goa                               | 196                  |           196 |
| 11      | Gujarat                           | 57225                |         10877 |
| 12      | Himachal Pradesh                  | 129                  |           129 |
| 13      | Haryana                           | 4149                 |          1343 |
| 14      | Jammu & Kashmir                   | 35217                |          7960 |
| 15      | Jharkhand                         | 3306                 |          3306 |
| 16      | Karnataka                         | 23514                |          5951 |
| 17      | Kerala                            | 95236                |         11197 |
| 18      | Lakshadeep (UT)                   | 366                  |           298 |
| 19      | Madhya Pradesh                    | 24875                |          3599 |
| 20      | Maharashtra                       | 57246                |          9780 |
| 21      | Manipur                           | 497                  |           388 |
| 22      | Odisha                            | 1133                 |           688 |
| 23      | Puducherry (UT)                   | 214                  |           123 |
| 24      | Punjab                            | 303                  |           303 |
| 25      | Rajasthan                         | 17796                |          4686 |
| 26      | Tamil Nadu                        | 13588                |          3189 |
| 27      | Tripura                           | 134                  |           134 |
| 28      | Uttar Pradesh                     | 51375                |         29017 |
| 29      | Uttarakhand                       | 4694                 |          1061 |
| 30      | West Bengal                       | 9940                 |          9940 |
| 31      | Telangana                         | 20635                |          3367 |
|         | Total                             | 448268               |        123700 |
| I       | Quota for Mehram                  |                      |           200 |
| II      | Quota for VIPs                    |                      |           500 |
| III     | Quota for Khadim ul Hujjaj        |                      |           625 |
|         | Grand Total                       |                      |        125025 |

* Assam includes Muslim Population of Arunachal Pradesh,  Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland & Sikkim